Man gets 6 1/2 years in prison in sale of $1 million

Man gets 6 1/2 years in prison in sale of $1 million in stolen items on Web

A man convicted of selling more than $1 million in stolen merchandise through Web sites including eBay and Amazon.com has been sentenced to serve 6 1/2 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Ahmet Keskes, 40, sold more than 79,000 items over the Web for $4.6 million between spring 2006 and September 2009, prosecutors said in a news release today

The merchandise, including toys, toothbrushes, skin care products and artwork, came from retailers including Bath and Body Works, Hobby Lobby, Toys R Us and Victoria’s Secret.

Although sold for almost $5 million, the items were valued at around $1 million, prosecutors said.

Keskes knew he was buying stolen goods and in some cases gave organized retail theft crews directions on what to steal, according to trial evidence. He used a Streamwood warehouse to hold the merchandise and sold through his own Web site, asenashop.com, and other online retailers, prosecutors said.

Keskes was convicted in 2011 after being charged in 2009. U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan on Tuesday also ordered Keskes to pay restitution of almost $641,000 to retailers to whom some of the items could be traced.

He will begin serving his sentence in June, prosecutors said.