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Governor Newsom signed into law the most significant bipartisan legislation to crack down on property crime at a Home Depot store in San Jose, California, United States on August 16, 2024.  Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu | Getty Images California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed 10 new bills into law that aim to combat retail crime in the state. The package, announced Friday, includes new laws that crack down on shoplifting, theft from a vehicle, organized theft, and online marketplaces where these stolen goods are sometimes resold. The new laws come after retailers have called on both local and federal governments to do more to combat retail theft, citing it as a growing challenge that’s impacted profits, customers and staff. One of the bills in the package, SB 1416, establishes tougher penalties for middlemen in organized retail crime rings and was introduced in response to a CNBC investigation published in March, according to the office of State Senator Josh Newman, who introduced the bill. That bill establishes additional prison time and fines for the sale, exchange or return of stolen property — the bread and butter of retail resale crime rings. Prior to the law’s passage, those charged with being involved in organized retail crime rings could face up to three years in prison. Critics said that sentence and penalty were not enough of a deterrence. Newman said the law was designed to go after middlemen like Michelle Mack — the organized retail crime “queenpin” who was exposed in CNBC’s investigation. Police say she made millions reselling stolen goods on Amazon at a fraction of their typical retail price. Mack was arrested in December and received a delayed sentence of five years and four months in state prison. Mack’s husband, Kenneth, received the same sentence and is already incarcerated. The couple…

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Filed under: News - @ August 19, 2024 5:29 pm