Florence, South Carolina – One Florence resident is among three South Carolina men who pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for their role in a scheme to defraud a chain of home improvement stores. According to United States Department of Justice, Donovan Young, 60, from Hartsville, Aaron Young, 34, from Florence, and James Hoffman, 47, from McBee, confessed to their involvement in defrauding various Lowe’s stores.
These individuals, along with other known conspirators, orchestrated a plan where they purchased Lowe’s merchandise cards at a reduced price. These cards were originally acquired by their associates through theft. The group knew that these cards were obtained by stealing goods from multiple Lowe’s locations across South Carolina. The stolen items were returned to the stores using fake identities to receive merchandise cards, the Justice Department explained.
The potential consequences for Youngs and Hoffman include up to 20 years in federal prison, fines reaching $250,000, mandatory restitution, and three years of supervised release after their prison terms, as per official statements.
The guilty pleas were accepted by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel, who is set to determine their sentences after reviewing a sentencing report from the U.S. Probation Office, according to the Justice Department.
The United States Secret Service and the Charleston Police Department investigated this case.
