Jewelry Store Owner Pleads Guilty to Buying and Selling Stolen Goods

LAS VEGAS—A Las Vegas jewelry store owner pleaded guilty today to receiving and selling stolen goods totaling about $196,500, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Nabil Sakkab, 39, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan to two counts of receipt and sale of stolen goods and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. Sakkab faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

“According to a December 2012 report prepared for Congress, organized retail crime exposes the United States to economic, public health, and domestic security dangers,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “Estimates of the losses to retailers range from $15 billion to $37 billion annually. Additionally, consumers end up paying for the losses in the form of higher prices on goods, and states lose the tax revenue that would otherwise be generated from the sale of these goods by legitimate retailers.”

According to the plea agreement, from about September 20, 2011 to February 3, 2012, Sakkab knowingly purchased stolen jewelry from an individual at a Las Vegas jewelry store Sakkab previously co-owned. The goods included Rolex and Tag Heuer watches stolen in other states and transported to Las Vegas prior to Sakkab’s purchase. Sakkab resold the stolen jewelry at the store and privately to third parties for personal gain. The parties agreed that the loss to the victims of the thefts is $196,500.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Special Investigations Section and was part of a federal and local law enforcement effort to combat organized retail theft. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christina M. Brown.