United States of America v. Marshall Lampkin

St. Louis, Missouri, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with mail fraud.

Marshall Lampkin, 36, carried out his scheme by first using Kohl’s Cash to purchase merchandise in a Kohl’s store, generally for more than $1,000. He would then immediately use the same Kohl’s Cash to order merchandise online, knowing that the in-person transaction had not yet registered. Lampkin returned the items he bought in the store for Kohl’s Cash so he could repeat his scam. Lampkin used the scheme hundreds of times at dozens of stores in more than a dozen states, evidence and testimony showed. Kohl’s asked Lampkin to stop, deactivated his online account and alerted stores, but Lampkin continued by recruiting multiple accomplices, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf said during Thursday’s hearing.

Lampkin had $293,000 in online purchases, which included flooring, furniture, small appliances and other items, shipped to storage units in St. Louis and a relative’s house in Illinois. He then sold or tried to sell those items by advertising them on Facebook.

The Kohl’s Cash scam was part of a series of escalating scams lasting nearly 20 years, Ladendorf said. Lampkin began by illegally selling MetroLink tickets in 2007. He shoplifted from big box stores from 2010-2011 and then targeted a national pharmacy chain’s rewards program beginning in 2013 and continuing through 2023, Ladendorf said. When confronted by store staff, Lampkin would become violent, he said.

The U.S. Secret Service and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Ladendorf and Derek Wiseman prosecuted the case.

The defendant was committed to the custody of the United States Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a total term of: 87 months. This term consists of a term of 87 months on each of counts one through five, all such terms to be served concurrently. This sentence shall run consecutive to any sentences imposed in Circuit Court, St. Louis County, Missouri, under Docket No. 22SL-CR01316-01, Circuit Court, Freestone County, Texas, under Docket No. CR21048, Circuit Court, St. Clair, Illinois, under Docket No. 22-CF-1512, Circuit Court, St. Louis, Missouri, under Docket No. 2222-CR01230-01, and in Superior Court, Warrick County, Indianna, under Docket No. 87D01-2211-F6-000527. Upon release from imprisonment, the defendant shall be on supervised release for a term of: three (3) years. This term consists of a term of three years on each of counts one through five, all such terms to run concurrently. Within 72 hours of release from the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, the defendant shall report in person to the probation office in the district to which the defendant is released. Restitution is ordered in the amount of $301,713.53. A Special Assessment of $500.00 is due immediately.