One of three East Coast women accused of stealing $6,000 in beauty products from a Shelby Township store who was suspected of thefts in other areas has pleaded guilty to first-degree retail fraud.
Evelyn Romero-Berrospi, 39, of Newark, N.J., entered the plea last Thursday in Macomb County Circuit Court and faces a May 12 sentencing by Judge Michael Servitto for a January incident at the Ulta Beauty store on 26 Mile Road in the township.
A second charge of operating organized retail crime will be dismissed at sentencing as part of a plea deal with Macomb prosecutors.
Romero-Berrospi and her two co-defendants are not citizens and are subject to “holds” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to jail records. Romero-Berrospi’s country of origin was unclear.
Warren police also have a retail-fraud warrant for Romero-Berrospi.
Co-defendants Brenda Ampudia-Tocto, 28, of the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., and Nayely De Los Santos-Arana, 20, of Lakewood, N.J., also waived their exams and face proceedings in circuit court.
Ampudia-Tocto, whose home country is Peru, also is labeled as an “interstate fugitive” as she has outstanding warrants on theft-related charges in Virginia, Massachusetts, Florida and Georgia, according to jail records.
She has an upcoming circuit court arraignment in Macomb County. De Los Santos-Arana faces an April 14 pretrial in front of Servitto.
She has an outstanding warrant for shoplifting in Warren, records say.
The episode began Jan. 10 when officers were called to the 26 Mile Road Ulta store, west of Van Dyke Avenue, where three women described as being of Hispanic origin allegedly entered the shop and left with $6,000 worth of merchandise without paying, police said.
Township detectives located the vehicle they fled in via Flock license-reader cameras that showed it was seen in other jurisdictions near Ulta Beauty stores, including in Toledo, Ohio. Police there were contacted and, along with Shelby Township officers, arrested the trio. The officers in Ohio also found more stolen merchandise in the women’s vehicle.
Further investigation showed the trio may have been involved in retail frauds from Ulta stores on Hall Road in Shelby Township, Troy, Lapeer and Toledo.
Ulta stores and other beauty stores have been targeted throughout the country for thefts in recent months and years.
In California, Michelle Mack, 54, was sentenced to five years in prison in January for leading an estimated $8-million theft ring that targets Ulta and Sephora stores in 21 counties.
