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2 men sentenced after multistate scheme to defraud Walmart locations of $350,000, including in Louisiana
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BATON ROUGE — A pair of Michigan men were each sentenced to more than a year and a half in prison each after being found guilty of a scheme to defraud more than 101 Walmart locations, including multiple in Louisiana.
Federal court officials on Monday said that Malik Strodder and Dondrell Smith, both 25, were sentenced to 21 and 35 months, respectively, for their role in the scheme. WBRZ previously reported on Smith's sentencing in February.
Both men were also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered Strodder to pay $180,676.53 and Smith to pay $167,802.52 in restitution.
According to court records, between September 2021 and August 2023, Strodder and Smith used fraudulent "cash cards" and attempted to purchase high-value items knowing the cards would decline. They would then falsely claim to be former Walmart employees and instructed cashiers to enter manual codes to process the transactions as cash payments, allowing them to get the items for free.
The men then used the resulting receipts to return the stolen merchandise for cash refunds at other Walmart locations.
The scheme included seven fraudulent transactions at Walmart in Gonzales, stealing more than $6,500 in merchandise and returning the items for cash the next day at Walmart stores in and around Broussard.
Strodder, during his sentencing, admitted that he spent the proceeds on luxury clothing and vehicles, which he later wrecked and totaled, U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall's office said
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