California Governor Gavin Newsom took decisive action on Friday by signing 10 bills into law aimed at addressing the escalating issue of retail theft in the state. The move comes as a response to the surge in criminal activities and follows the recent arrest of Michelle Mack, the alleged mastermind behind the notorious “California Girls” makeup theft crime ring that targeted the cosmetic chain Ulta.
Critics have long voiced concerns over California’s lenient penalties for shoplifting, which only result in jail time for thefts exceeding $950 in value. Store owners have been urging both local and federal governments to take immediate action to curb retail crime. According to data from the Public Policy Institute of California, commercial burglary and robbery rates have been steadily increasing in the state over the past few years, with shoplifting showing a consistent rise since 2021.
Highlighting the urgency of the situation, the California Highway Patrol’s special retail crime task force has made nearly 900 arrests since January, recovering over $7.2 million worth of stolen goods. In response to Mack’s crime ring, State Sen. Josh Newman introduced Bill SB1416, which imposes harsher sentencing for middlemen involved in organized theft. Previously, individuals charged with participation in such crime rings faced a maximum prison term of three years, a penalty deemed insufficient by critics. The new bill extends the sentencing based on the value of the stolen goods, with additional years added for reselling stolen goods exceeding certain thresholds.
The legislation directly addresses the case of Michelle Mack, who, along with her husband, orchestrated a sophisticated operation that pilfered approximately $8 million worth of goods from Ulta and Sephora since 2012. Prosecutors discovered over $300,000 worth of stolen merchandise at the couple’s lavish $2.75 million mansion outside San Diego. Mack, a 53-year-old mother of three, was arrested in December, while her husband is already serving a sentence of five years and four months. The court ordered the couple to pay $3 million in restitution to Ulta and around $13,000 to Sephora.
Another bill, SB1144, aims to tackle cases similar to Mack’s by facilitating the filing of civil charges against online marketplaces that resell stolen goods. Mack and her husband amassed a fortune by reselling the stolen Ulta and Sephora products on their Amazon store, which included beauty products, sunglasses, and designer bags. In 2022 alone, their online reselling scam generated $1.89 million in revenue, according to Amazon sales records.
While Governor Newsom believes that these new laws will make communities safer and provide law enforcement with effective tools to apprehend criminals, it remains uncertain whether they will be sufficient to reverse the damage already inflicted. Shoplifting incidents in California have surged by 29% since 2019, with commercial burglary and robbery rates increasing by 16% and 13%, respectively, during the same period. The Bay Area has reported the highest rates of retail crime and witnessed the most significant spikes since 2019, according to available data.
