Household Goods Moving Company Owner Sentenced for Transportation of Stolen Property
On March 2, 2016, Shedrick Giles was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Atlanta, GA, for transportation of stolen property related to a household goods (HHG) theft scheme involving multiple moving companies. Giles was sentenced to serve 12 months and 2 days imprisonment, 40 hours of Community Service, and was ordered to pay $144,007 in restitution to his victims.
The investigation was based on a referral from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). During the investigation, agents determined Tasheen “Ty” R. Pickett owned and operated J and P Moving, Inc. (J&P), a moving company based in Sumter, SC. J&P purportedly provided moving services for individuals seeking to ship their HHG, even though J&P never obtained the authority from FMCSA to transport HHG. After acquiring HHG moving jobs, J&P and others dispatched trucks and personnel to various locations, loaded the HHG into moving trucks under the pretense of providing moving services, and never returned the HHG to the rightful owners. In some instances, when an owner of the HHG contacted the movers seeking the return of their HHG, the moving companies would provide excuses for the failure to deliver the HHG or promise delivery at a later date. Ultimately, the HHG were never delivered and multiple victims suffered financial losses as well as the loss of their possessions.
Giles owned Fast Movers Delivery Service, a moving company using addresses in Georgia and New York. Giles was identified as a co-conspirator with Pickett using the same scheme to fraudulently obtain money and HHG from unsuspecting victims. In January 2016, Pickett was sentenced for his role in the scheme to 48 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $427,000 in restitution to his victims.