RICHMOND, VA – After going into effect back in 2023, Virginia’s law criminalizing what’s defined as “organized retail theft” has seen promising results with the first series of convictions under the legislation alongside the improved lines of communication between law enforcement agencies and retailers.
Back in July of 2023, Virginia lawmakers enacted their iteration of making organized retail theft a felony in the state, which the legislation defined as applying to anyone who “conspires or acts in concert with another person to commit simple larceny” at one or more retail locations over a 90-day period where the accrued stolen goods exceed $5,000 in value.
Considering the notoriety progressive Democrats have regarding their sympathetic sentiments toward petty thieves and the like, it’s of little surprise that attempts were made by Virginia Democrats to repeal the legislation. At the time of the bill's passing in the state Senate, Democrat Delegate Vivian Watts was among those vocally opposed to the legislation, saying at the time, “This makes shoplifting racketeering.”
Democrats like Delegate Watts, as well as progressive criminal justice reform advocates, often framed their opposition to the legislation by invoking hypotheticals of low-income individuals stealing food and necessities to survive. Yet, when bouncing that sort of theoretical circumstance of the needy stealing to survive against grounded logic, the theory falls flat when confronted with what the average American family spends monthly on groceries – a sum that doesn’t come close to over $5,000 in a 90-day period.
In the years since coming to fruition, Virginia’s organized retail theft law has seen generally positive results, with Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares noting the pace of convictions under the bill has grown from seven in fiscal year 2024 to 20 convictions at the end of fiscal year 2025, which wrapped up this past June. Since the onset of the new fiscal year in July, Virginia has already successfully attained 27 convictions under the bill.
AG Miyares was also key in helping launch the Virginia Organized Retail Theft Exchange, which serves as an intelligence-sharing platform throughout the state where law enforcement agencies, retailers, and prosecutors can share information on repeat offenders to help build effective cases against shoplifters operating in multiple localities.
One such theft ring was investigated under the new legislation by the Henrico County Police Division, where the unraveling of the multi-state affair began when Officer Keith Campbell approached an individual concealing merchandise at a self-checkout at a Target store located off of Staple Mill Road in February 2024.
When Officer Campbell approached the man and asked if he could be of assistance, the individual “became visibly uncomfortable, stated he left something in his car and left the store,” according to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Rachel Rosswog. Roughly thirty minutes after the encounter with Officer Campbell, Officer William Walker saw the same subject at a different Target location off of Brook Road, making multiple trips to and from his vehicle with cartloads of unpaid merchandise.
Not even a week later, Officer Selia Lewis saw the same subject again – this time at yet a different Target location off of West Broad Street – engaging in the same modus operandi. An investigation led to authorities finding out the subject’s identity, 37-year-old Kyle Charles from New York, while also revealing he’d been shoplifting from Target stores located in Chesterfield, Hanover, Arlington, and Fairfax counties.
The accumulated goods stolen by the individual, which reportedly consisted primarily of graphing calculators and programmable coffee mugs meant to maintain temperatures, exceeded $100,000 from stores across the eastern United States, according to Katie Robbins, who specializes in asset protection for Target.
Charles wound up pleading guilty to three grand larceny counts earlier in 2025 after the investigation revealed organized retail theft was in play, with prosecutors dropping the charge in exchange for the plea deal, which put Charles behind bars for three years.
Before his sentencing, Charles openly told the court, “I’m not even going to lie… Even though it’s just shoplifting… It’s still something major because, like you said, people get affected by these things.”
Back in July of 2023, Virginia lawmakers enacted their iteration of making organized retail theft a felony in the state, which the legislation defined as applying to anyone who “conspires or acts in concert with another person to commit simple larceny” at one or more retail locations over a 90-day period where the accrued stolen goods exceed $5,000 in value.
Considering the notoriety progressive Democrats have regarding their sympathetic sentiments toward petty thieves and the like, it’s of little surprise that attempts were made by Virginia Democrats to repeal the legislation. At the time of the bill's passing in the state Senate, Democrat Delegate Vivian Watts was among those vocally opposed to the legislation, saying at the time, “This makes shoplifting racketeering.”
Democrats like Delegate Watts, as well as progressive criminal justice reform advocates, often framed their opposition to the legislation by invoking hypotheticals of low-income individuals stealing food and necessities to survive. Yet, when bouncing that sort of theoretical circumstance of the needy stealing to survive against grounded logic, the theory falls flat when confronted with what the average American family spends monthly on groceries – a sum that doesn’t come close to over $5,000 in a 90-day period.
In the years since coming to fruition, Virginia’s organized retail theft law has seen generally positive results, with Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares noting the pace of convictions under the bill has grown from seven in fiscal year 2024 to 20 convictions at the end of fiscal year 2025, which wrapped up this past June. Since the onset of the new fiscal year in July, Virginia has already successfully attained 27 convictions under the bill.
AG Miyares was also key in helping launch the Virginia Organized Retail Theft Exchange, which serves as an intelligence-sharing platform throughout the state where law enforcement agencies, retailers, and prosecutors can share information on repeat offenders to help build effective cases against shoplifters operating in multiple localities.
One such theft ring was investigated under the new legislation by the Henrico County Police Division, where the unraveling of the multi-state affair began when Officer Keith Campbell approached an individual concealing merchandise at a self-checkout at a Target store located off of Staple Mill Road in February 2024.
When Officer Campbell approached the man and asked if he could be of assistance, the individual “became visibly uncomfortable, stated he left something in his car and left the store,” according to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Rachel Rosswog. Roughly thirty minutes after the encounter with Officer Campbell, Officer William Walker saw the same subject at a different Target location off of Brook Road, making multiple trips to and from his vehicle with cartloads of unpaid merchandise.
Not even a week later, Officer Selia Lewis saw the same subject again – this time at yet a different Target location off of West Broad Street – engaging in the same modus operandi. An investigation led to authorities finding out the subject’s identity, 37-year-old Kyle Charles from New York, while also revealing he’d been shoplifting from Target stores located in Chesterfield, Hanover, Arlington, and Fairfax counties.
The accumulated goods stolen by the individual, which reportedly consisted primarily of graphing calculators and programmable coffee mugs meant to maintain temperatures, exceeded $100,000 from stores across the eastern United States, according to Katie Robbins, who specializes in asset protection for Target.
Charles wound up pleading guilty to three grand larceny counts earlier in 2025 after the investigation revealed organized retail theft was in play, with prosecutors dropping the charge in exchange for the plea deal, which put Charles behind bars for three years.
Before his sentencing, Charles openly told the court, “I’m not even going to lie… Even though it’s just shoplifting… It’s still something major because, like you said, people get affected by these things.”
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