Shelton Man Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Amazon

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that OSHANE STEWART, 31, of Shelton, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 18 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for defrauding Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”).

According to court documents and statements made in court, Stewart created multiple vendor accounts with Amazon allowing him to sell merchandise through the website on a third-party basis.  He often opened the accounts using false names, email addresses and other identifying information.  After setting up the accounts, Stewart represented to Amazon that he was shipping it valuable merchandise to be held for sale by the company.  In reality, he would not ship the merchandise, and would later falsely claim that it had been lost, supporting his false claims with fabricated documents.  Amazon sent Stewart a series of refunds for the purportedly lost merchandise.

Through this scheme, Stewart defrauded Amazon of approximately $742,231.16.  Judge Thompson ordered him to pay full restitution.

On November 8, 2022, Stewart pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

Stewart who is released on bond, is required to report to prison on December 5.

Two other individuals have pleaded guilty to charges in connection with this scheme.  On February 10, 2022, Stewart’s brother, Kenoy Stewart, pleaded guilty and admitted that his conduct resulted in a loss to Amazon exceeding $1 million.  Rajhni Yankana pleaded guilty on August 26, 2022.  Each awaits sentencing.

This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from Amazon.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Conor M. Reardon and Christopher W. Schmeisser.