$400,000 Heist Of Maine Beer, Blueberries, Crabs Triggers Federal Indictment

A New York man has been indicted for conspiring to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cargo bound for Maine and selling the items for illicit profit, the U.S. attorney announced.

The goods allegedly stolen include beer worth $35,200, frozen snow crabs valued at $325,000 and pallets of blueberries.

Romoy Forbes, 31, a Jamaican national living in Deer Park, N.Y., has been indicted for interstate transportation of stolen goods, and conspiracy.

Forbes and his co-conspirators were able to steal the goods, partly through fraudulent emails that they sent to shippers, federal authorities said.

The emails were made to appear as though they were being sent by legitimate trucking carrier companies, offering and agreeing to receive and deliver goods that the shippers had advertised as in need of transportation. 

Forbes allegedly obtained the snow crab from a warehouse in Massachusetts intended to be delivered on behalf of a Maine trucking company, to a Florida customer.

He also obtained a New Jersey beer shipment intended for a customer in Portland, Maine. Instead of delivering the beer to Maine, Forbes drove the beer to New York, where he provided it to an individual in return for payment.

In addition, Forbes obtained blueberries from New Jersey warehouse that were supposed to be delivered on behalf of a Maine freight company to Illinois by falsely representing that he was acting on behalf of a trucking company.

Interstate transportation of stolen goods provides for a sentence up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Conspiracy to commit that offense carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.