The co-owner of a Melrose Avenue shoe retailer known for selling high-priced sneakers to celebrities is among a dozen people facing federal charges for alleged involvement in an organized cargo theft ring that stole at least $2 million in merchandise from Nike’s main Memphis-based warehouse, officials said.
Bereket Abraham, 39, the co-founder/co-owner of Coolkicks, and Jorge Cuellar, 30, an online shoe reseller and social media figure, both of Los Angeles, are charged in Tennessee with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, according to federal prosecutors.
A third Los Angeles man, Roy Harvey Jr., 39, is also among the 12 named in the indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday in the Western District of Tennessee.
The charges come after a multi-year investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Cargo Theft Task Force, in collaboration with the FBI.
Court papers show that in January 2024, the LAPD arrested Harvey on state charges of receiving stolen property related to the Nike shoes. The arrest prompted the LAPD and the FBI to coordinate their investigations, which found that Abraham and a co-defendant allegedly conspired to print UPS shipping labels using equipment and the UPS account associated with Abraham and his Coolkicks store, the LAPD said Tuesday.
Prosecutors contend that after receiving the shoe shipments, Abraham and Cuellar paid Harvey and other co-conspirators more than $900,000 for the stolen shoes, which were either sold online or through Coolkicks.
A joint LAPD/FBI team arrested Abraham, Harvey and Cuellar on federal warrants last month. The three appeared in federal court in Los Angeles on June 23 on charges of conspiracy, interstate transportation of stolen property and aiding and abetting, authorities said. It was not immediately known when they are due to appear for trial in Tennessee.
If convicted, they could each face up to 15 years in federal prison, $500,000 in fines, and three years of supervised release, prosecutors said.
“As alleged, these twelve defendants stole millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise and sold those stolen goods at the direct expense of sellers, shippers, and buyers,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Terence Reilly of the FBI’s Nashville bureau said in a statement.
“Organized cargo theft doesn’t just steal products — it steals time, trust, and profitability across the entire supply chain. Those who conspire to disrupt commerce and harm consumers will be met with a coordinated law enforcement response,” he added.