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Verizon Employee Gets 2 Years Jail for Stealing 900 Phones
35-year-old James Hopkins, of Telford, Pennsylvania was sentenced to two years and three months in prison this week for stealing more than 900 phones while employed as an account executive for a Verizon Wireless branch office. According to police, Hopkins stole more than 900 devices worth around $328,517, then sold them online, making a profit of $272,290. According to the report, Hopkins had the merchandise shipped to a relative's home in New Jersey, manipulated the company's records to conceal the orders, and then sold the items on eBay.
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Packeteers
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join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY
Asus RT-AC3100
(Software) Asuswrt-Merlin

Packeteers

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stupid criminals?

I mean, sure they got away with for a while, but you are reselling serial numbered subscription dependent devices - how could you possibly think Verizon would not eventually catch up to you, and have tons of documentation to convict you. I mean, perhaps 9 phones would not be cost effective for Verizon to investigate, but 900

mikekay
Premium Member
join:2011-01-29
Kitchener, ON

mikekay

Premium Member

Re: stupid criminals?

said by Packeteers:

I mean, sure they got away with for a while, but you are reselling serial numbered subscription dependent devices - how could you possibly think Verizon would not eventually catch up to you, and have tons of documentation to convict you. I mean, perhaps 9 phones would not be cost effective for Verizon to investigate, but 900

He was an executive?! Like he knew anything about the company business process

Packeteers
Premium Member
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY
Asus RT-AC3100
(Software) Asuswrt-Merlin

Packeteers

Premium Member

Re: stupid criminals?

It's not hard to find middle or upper management larceny, it just takes more time till the paperwork inconsistencies get noticed. So far I've helped get a few such managers fired in the past 30 years - internal audits usually caught them well before their theft rose to such a criminal level.

celeritypc
For Lucky Best Wash, Use Mr. Sparkle
Premium Member
join:2004-05-15
Caldwell, NJ

celeritypc to mikekay

Premium Member

to mikekay
No, an account exec which is fancy talk for "salesguy"

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Re: stupid criminals?

Sales people are special people who have the need to feel special. That's why they need special feel good titles like "Sales Executive".

atuarre
Here come the drums
Premium Member
join:2004-02-14
EC/SETX SWLA

atuarre

Premium Member

Re: stupid criminals?

Eh...in some companies those sales people are treated like the chosen ones. When I worked for a Sprint affiliate a long time ago, the sales people, especially the sales executives (which are sales people) that handled b2b and major markets (not the retail people) got what they wanted when they wanted.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

tired_runner

Premium Member

Re: stupid criminals?

If your company's business model is selling stuff to people, you need people to sell it.

For better or worse, they do bring food to the table to those responsible for providing the product.
TheRogueX
join:2003-03-26
Springfield, MO

TheRogueX

Member

Re: stupid criminals?

Sure, but they shouldn't be treated like gods and paid better than the technicians and engineers who keep the machine running. It's ridiculous that salespeople can easily make $100k+/year and get all sorts of outrageous perks while the people doing the real work that keeps those customers happy and in service get paid half that.

Especially when you consider that most of the time salespeople use "fire and forget" methods of selling: Overhype, stretch the truth juuuuust as far as you can get away with legally, get them to sign, then walk away because they're someone else's problem now.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT
·Frontier FiberOp..

tired_runner

Premium Member

Re: stupid criminals?

Right.... But in business the customer doesn't care. The big wigs with big wallets only care about the bottom line and who's gonna get it for them, and the customer cares about what they want and when they want it, not who designed or delivered it.

Dotcom boom aside, if you can sell it sounding sexy you're a pioneer. The rest are minions.
compton
join:2002-02-08
Brooklyn, NY

compton to TheRogueX

Member

to TheRogueX
said by TheRogueX:

Sure, but they shouldn't be treated like gods and paid better than the technicians and engineers who keep the machine running. It's ridiculous that salespeople can easily make $100k+/year and get all sorts of outrageous perks while the people doing the real work that keeps those customers happy and in service get paid half that.

Salespeople work on commission. Some years they make a good living and some years they do not. The salespeople you mentioned don't always make 100k a year and if they do that's because they are very very good at what they do. Salespeople are the ones that get potential customers to become customers. Not to mention, they get customers to buy more service than the customers normally would. Supply and demand, you can find technicians and engineers anywhere but good and consistent salespeople are rare. So, I understand why a salesperson, on top of their game, would earn more than technicians and engineers.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA

aaronwt

Premium Member

Only two years?....

I would have thought he would have received more jail time.

Either way what an idiot. Criminals are so stupid.

davidc502
join:2002-03-06
Mount Juliet, TN

davidc502

Member

Re: Only two years?....

said by aaronwt:

I would have thought he would have received more jail time.

Either way what an idiot. Criminals are so stupid.

He was sentenced for 2 years 3 months, but will likely be out on good behavior in 8 months.

White collar crimes typically get less time.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Only two years?....

yeah. not like he was in possession of 1 oz of pot.

davidc502
join:2002-03-06
Mount Juliet, TN

davidc502

Member

Re: Only two years?....

said by ArrayList:

yeah. not like he was in possession of 1 oz of pot.

It's it amazing how the system works? One can rob for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and conceivably get less time than someone busted for 1oz of dope.
cferro
join:2003-07-27
Jersey City, NJ

cferro to davidc502

Member

to davidc502
This is a federal crime. He will serve all his time.

frankyman
@67.176.23.x

frankyman to aaronwt

Anon

to aaronwt
sounds like he was mostly working alone(apart form have a relative take the shipments) such persons usually are sentenced leniently. the heavy sentences got to those who are considered part of 'organized crime' usually meaning there are several layers between the one grabbing the item and the one selling to the end user or several people are all doing the same thing and are considered part of a 'ring.'
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT
·Frontier FiberOp..

tired_runner

Premium Member

Dumbass

Dumbass.... That's like selling a stolen car from the same valet parking where you work...

In the day and age of IMEI and ESN, did he think it would go unnoticed at all?

One might be able to get away with reselling a phone marked with stolen IMEI since it's typically not married to a carrier and if it is, that's nothing that a software hack can't remediate, but VZ phones are married to the network.

AMDUSER
Premium Member
join:2003-05-28
Earth,
ARRIS CM8200
ARRIS SB6183

AMDUSER

Premium Member

Re: Dumbass

said by tired_runner:

"... but VZ phones are married to the network.

It is not that hard to program a VZ phone to work on Sprint [or other CDMA carrier.]
There is software that makes it incredible easy to do it.. it will even let you add the PRL file as well.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

tired_runner

Premium Member

Re: Dumbass

Are the radios on VZ phones interoperable with others?

Typically you can get at least 2G GSM/EDGE with incompatible versions between carriers, but I'd imagine it's different with CDMA.

AMDUSER
Premium Member
join:2003-05-28
Earth,
ARRIS CM8200
ARRIS SB6183

AMDUSER

Premium Member

Re: Dumbass

CDMA is CDMA... ie a Sprint cdma phone can work with Verizon, can work with US Cellular. The only real difference is the programing used to setup the phone and the PRL files. [The roaming list.]

I believe this is possible with LTE as well, provided the phone being changed supports the LTE bands used by the carrier. Technically, at this point, there is almost no reason At&t could not roam on Verizon- at least with LTE.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

tired_runner

Premium Member

Re: Dumbass

CDMA also has different frequency bands it operates, just like GSM, HDSPA, LTE, etc.

But wikipedia says Verizon and Sprint use 1900 MHz, so I guess it really is a matter of programming.
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

ITGeeks

Member

Re: Dumbass

They've both used the same 1900MHz on CDMA. That's why phones from 5-10years ago would roam on both companies before any fancy technology came out.

why60loss
Premium Member
join:2012-09-20

why60loss to AMDUSER

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to AMDUSER
said by AMDUSER:

CDMA is CDMA... ie a Sprint cdma phone can work with Verizon, can work with US Cellular. The only real difference is the programing used to setup the phone and the PRL files. [The roaming list.]

I believe this is possible with LTE as well, provided the phone being changed supports the LTE bands used by the carrier. Technically, at this point, there is almost no reason At&t could not roam on Verizon- at least with LTE.

Well even though both AT&T and Verizon use LTE in the 700mhz area, AT&T uses band 17 of it and Verizon band 13. No phone can support both due to the guard band in the middle of them.

As for 1700/2100 yea T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon should all be able to roam across each other.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

?

Wasn't there another dope who just (about) did the same thing with AT&T phones?

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

I bet they were Apple devices

I'm willing to bet they were Apple devices just like Hondas and Toyotas are the most stolen cars.
Lets Go
join:2005-03-05
Homer, NY

Lets Go

Member

What happens to the phones now?

I would be interesting in knowing what, if anything, happens to the phones now? At this point they must know what phones were involved. I wonder if VZ will deactivate service on the stolen ones?
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: What happens to the phones now?

My guess is by this point they have already recovered the costs due to the subscriptions.

But what the guy did is still high value shoplifting so charges should still hold.

frankofrank
@64.134.31.x

frankofrank to Lets Go

Anon

to Lets Go


if they were sold on ebay i can almost 100% guarantee they are all overseas. Americans do not buy new phones on ebay they probably are in russia, ukraine, india or china well out of verizons reach
said by Lets Go:

I would be interesting in knowing what, if anything, happens to the phones now? At this point they must know what phones were involved. I wonder if VZ will deactivate service on the stolen ones?

OtherguyTX
join:2004-01-06
Irving, TX

OtherguyTX

Member

And what about the profit

Hope he has to pay that back. Not to bad at over 100K per year.
Trimox
join:2012-09-24
Anywhere

Trimox

Member

Criminal Minds

He is accused (and found guilty) of doing this over a 9 month period. Can't be the smartest to think that 1/3 of a million dollars would not be missed, even with verizon as big as it is.

"In all, prosecutors said, he sold more than 900 items worth $328,517 online, making a profit of $272,290."

#1 And most of all, whatever you get from selling stolen merchandise is profit.
#2 If I do the math on these numbers money it missing. Ok so he had to pay shipping, but $62 per item.
#3 Let me assume he was making 50k a year (would bet lower but going high just for argument's sake). So he makes 5.5x what he would make in a year in 9 months, do we really need to think about how he got caught

If you can't keep you mouth and wallet shut don't be a criminal. Better yet do and make it easy on the rest of us.

AMDUSER
Premium Member
join:2003-05-28
Earth,
ARRIS CM8200
ARRIS SB6183

AMDUSER

Premium Member

Re: Criminal Minds

It would be intresting if the IRS hit them up for taxes on this unclaimed 'Income'...
Generally, it is about 30-40 % once you go over $100,000.. so they could end up paying in about ~$108,916 in taxes.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

Re: Criminal Minds

That would be for people that actually pay. This guy more than likely would claim hardship and as far as the IRS is concerned all is forgiven.

Anonymouse
@24.115.24.x

Anonymouse to Trimox

Anon

to Trimox
#1 - yes, that is true.
#2 - The product he stole was valued at ~$330k by Verizon at full retail; he probably actually sold the items for less than full retail, accounting for the "loss" in your calculations.
#3 - Guarantee he was making substantially more than $50k after you figure in commissions.

xNPC
As Usual, Have Nice Day
Premium Member
join:2000-11-08
Errington, BC

xNPC

Premium Member

please make a distinction between

vz and vzw employees.