Oakland County Residents Charged With Running 'Criminal Enterprise' Out Of Pawn Shop On 8 Mile

DETROIT (WWJ) - Two people from a have been accused in an alleged scheme to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars of stolen merchandise at a Detroit pawn shop.

iPawn Shop owner, 38-year-old Gasswan Usama Gargis of Commerce Township, and his employee, 20-year-old Trisha Lynette-Razon of Orchard Lake, are facing a laundry list of charges — including conducting a criminal enterprise, organized retail crime and receiving and concealing stolen property.

Canton police, who investigated the case along with Michigan State Police and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, say the charges come after detectives found over $300,000 in stolen goods at the Gargis' store on 8 Mile Road — including high-end electronics and kitchen appliances still in the box.

"We're talking about, you know, everything from Sonos speakers to generators, power tools...just multiple items; anything you can get from a big box store," Canton Deputy Chief Craig Wilsher said. "They'll just walk in the store, they'll grab something and they'll, you know, run out of the store without being stopped."

Wayne County Prosecutors Kym Worthy hopes the arrests, following an intensive six-month investigation, will deter other pawn shop owners from considering breaking the law.

"This case should serve as notice that these wide-scale sales of stolen goods to pawn shop operations will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted in Wayne County," Worthy said, in a statement.

Bond was set at $5,000 each for Gargis and Lynette-Razon at an arraignment in 36th District Court on Tuesday. They're due back in court for a probable cause conference next Tuesday.