Attorney General Raoul charges several individuals following organized retail theft operation at Monster Pawn locations

[January 17, 2025]  Chicago – Attorney General Raoul charged several individuals, including a Bloomington, Illinois family, for allegedly running an organized retail crime enterprise through multiple Central Illinois Monster Pawn locations the family owned and operated. Raoul’s office charged Monster Pawn’s owners, Edwin Pierce, 65; Kathleen Pierce, 58; and their son, Everson Pierce, 28, and four additional individuals as a result of a multijurisdictional investigation by Raoul’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force.

Raoul’s office investigated this case with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations; the Illinois Department of Revenue Criminal Investigations Division; and the Bloomington, Chatham and Springfield police departments. His office alleges that between November 2023 and July 2024, the defendants ran an organized retail crime operation at the following locations:

Monster Pawn Springfield North LLC: 200 block of E. North Grand Ave. in Springfield, Illinois.

Monster Pawn Springfield Inc.: 2300 block of S. MacArthur Blvd. in Springfield, Illinois.

Midwest Exchange Inc.: 1400 block of E. Empire St. in Bloomington, Illinois.

Monster Pawn, Inc.: 1600 block of R.T. Dunn Dr. in Bloomington, Illinois.

Monster Pawn Normal Inc.: 1400 block of S. Main St. in Normal, Illinois.

“Organized retail crime takes many forms and is not limited to any one type of business or region of Illinois. Illinois residents should be able to trust businesses in their communities to operate in accordance with the law and that the goods and services customers purchase from businesses were procured legally,” Raoul said. “These charges demonstrate the importance of the collaborative work that my office’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force is doing, and I appreciate the partnership of the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout this complex multijurisdictional investigation.”

Raoul alleges the Pierce family, with Monster Pawn shop managers and employees worked together to purchase new merchandise, such as televisions, tools and video game equipment, still in its original packaging. According to Raoul’s office, the merchandise was represented as being the proceeds of retail theft, which the defendants would purchase well below market value. The Pierce family and their employees then allegedly sold those items online below market value.

The Attorney General’s office charged Kathleen Pierce with three misdemeanor counts of theft under $500. Raoul’s office charged Edwin Pierce with three misdemeanor counts of theft under $500, as well as:

One count of being the organizer of a continuing financial crimes enterprise, a Class X felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

One count of continuing financial crimes enterprise, a Class 1 felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

One count of being the manager of organized retail crime, a Class 2 felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Eight counts of theft between $500 and $10,000.

One count of solicitation of theft, and two counts of money laundering, all Class 3 felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison.

Raoul’s office charged Everson Pierce with seven misdemeanor counts of theft under $500, as well as:

One count of being the organizer of a continuing financial crimes enterprise, a Class X felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

One count of being the manager of organized retail crime, a Class 2 felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Four counts of theft between $500 and $10,000 and two counts of money laundering, all Class 3 felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison.

The Attorney General’s office charged Thomas O’Donnell, 57, of Normal, Illinois, with the following:

Two counts of theft between $500 and $10,000 and two counts of money laundering, all Class 3 felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison.

Eight misdemeanor counts of theft under $500.

Raoul’s office charged Steven Mileham, 71, of Springfield, Illinois, with the following:

One count of solicitation of theft and one count of theft between $500 and $10,000, both Class 3 felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison.

One count of being the manager of organized retail crime, a Class 2 felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Attorney General Raoul’s office charged Jessica Cloyd, 34, of Mechanicsburg, Illinois, with the following:

One count of theft between $500 and $10,000, a Class 3 felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Three misdemeanor counts of theft under $500.

The Attorney General’s office charged Carter Walker, 25, of Chatham, Illinois, with the following:

One count of theft between $500 and $10,000, a Class 3 felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

One misdemeanor count of theft under $500.

All sentences are ultimately determined by the court. The public is reminded the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Attorney General Raoul’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force is the first statewide, public-private collaboration of its kind in Illinois and is designed to foster cooperation among retailers, online marketplaces, law enforcement agencies and state’s attorneys dedicated to targeting organized retail crime enterprises. The task force allows the office to utilize data and tips provided by retailers and to partner across jurisdictions with law enforcement agencies to investigate organized retail crimes and trace thefts to the source.

In addition to establishing the task force, Attorney General Raoul initiated changes to Illinois law to create and specifically define organized retail crime in state law. The new law signed in 2022, puts in place stronger oversight of online marketplaces to curb actors who exploit these legitimate platforms to illegally sell stolen goods. It also creates a statewide intelligence platform to help retailers and law enforcement agencies better coordinate their enforcement efforts. Additionally, the law requires online marketplaces to verify the identity of high-volume sellers, which will help police outlets used to monetize stolen merchandise. The law also aims to reduce a criminal’s ability to avoid prosecution for organized retail crime by allowing any state’s attorney where any element of organized retail crime takes place to prosecute the whole crime. The law also gives the Attorney General’s office authority to utilize the statewide grand jury to prosecute organized retail crime. In addition, the legislature appropriated $5 million to the Attorney General’s office to award grants to state’s attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies that investigate and prosecute organized retail crime.

Assistant Attorney Generals Gregg Gansmann and Thomas Darman are prosecuting the cases for Raoul’s Statewide Grand Jury Bureau, which is authorized by Illinois statute to prosecute multi-county cases involving drugs, guns, organized retail crime or money laundering. Working regularly with state and federal law enforcement agencies, the bureau focuses on complex, often large-scale, organized criminal activity.

[Illinois Attorney General Press Office]