Three jailed in scheme to steal food from poor

The men took items meant for a Tampa food bank and resold them, pocketing the proceeds, officials say.

By ANGELA MOORE

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 23, 2000

[Times photo: Ken Helle] FDLE Special Agent Supervisor David Weller, center in red shirt, oversees the confiscation of stolen merchandise from the Price Is Right store in Tampa on Monday.

TAMPA -- For six years Ramon Antonio Martinez drove a truck to a Lakeland warehouse, where he would fill up with scratch-and-dent foods and other items donated by Publix.

He took them to a Tampa food bank for distribution to the homeless and hungry in 10 counties.

But starting last year, investigator say, Martinez took some detours.

State officials say Martinez and two other men diverted more than $2.5-million worth of the donated goods and sold them for profit, mostly through a scratch-and-dent store in one of Tampa's poorest neighborhoods.

The men were arrested Monday.

The alleged thefts did not cripple the Divine Providence Food Bank's efforts, but shook the faith of the charity's staff.

"It really saddened me," said Sherryl Herbert, executive director of Divine Providence. "When you work with someone for six years, you come to know them and care about them. And he knows how much something like this could hurt us, how much we needed that food."

Martinez, 56, of 5421 Eagle Blvd. in Land O'Lakes, was often assisted by Gary W. Nash, 53, of 235 W Brandon Blvd., No. 107, in Brandon, officials said, although Nash was not associated with the food bank or with Publix.

Robert A. Faedo, 29, of 11405 Brancato Lane in Riverview, owned the Price Is Right store, where investigators say most of the stolen donations were sold.

The statewide prosecutors office has charged all three men with running an organized scheme to defraud, racketeering and conspiracy for racketeering along with 79 counts of grand theft and dealing in stolen property. All were held Monday night at Hillsborough County Jail. Bail for each was set at $425,000.

"These people were preying on people who are in the worst position to lose," said Joseph Larrinaga, chief assistant statewide prosecutor.

FDLE agents, Publix employees and Tampa police officers confiscated truckloads of goodsfrom Faedo's store Monday. Faedo made a tidy profit selling the stolen items while Martinez and Nash each collected a cut, agents said.

Investigators don't know when the scheme started or who approached whom.

But in November 1999, Publix spokesman Lee Brunson said, an employee in the Loss Prevention Center at Publix headquarters in Lakeland began to notice donated items turning up in flea markets.

Joe Williams could tell because Publix marks each one with a special white sticker, Brunson said. He notified the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the investigation began.

When the FDLE compared records from Publix's reclaimed items section and records at Divine Providence Food Bank, the discrepancy was clear, said FDLE Special Agent Supervisor David Waller.

"Publix had given 450 truckloads of those items to Divine Providence (since April 1999)," Waller said. "Only 91 actually made it there to the people who need it."

In January, agents contacted Herbert and told her about their investigation and their suspicions. Martinez had been stealing from the poorest of the poor, the agents told a stunned Herbert.

"We're trying to help people here," she said. "They didn't steal from us, they were stealing from hungry people, less fortunate people, people who were having problems."

The food bank channels food through more than 200 other charities.

Publix is Divine Providence's biggest donor, Herbert said, and provided more than a quarter of the 4.5-million pounds of goods the charity collected last year.

Publix gets credit from its suppliers for damaged-package items, then donates them to charity because the food inside is still okay.

Individual stores send their damaged or unsellable items back to a Publix warehouse in Lakeland, where charities such as Divine Providence send trucks.

Even with a significant dropoff in donations from the supermarket this year, Martinez still delivered Publix donations every day, so Herbert said she didn't think anything of it. The office sent Publix receipts for the food, but no one on either end ever contacted the other in person. The discrepancy in pickups and deliveries went unnoticed.

Martinez told investigators that he made $180,000 on the scheme and bought a new racehorse to celebrate.

Investigators didn't know exactly how much Faedo cleared, nor did they know how much Nash made.

The investigation is continuing, Waller said, since agents believe Martinez also diverted truckloads of goods from other supermarket chains. Monday's charges include about 20 truckloads of Winn-Dixie donations the trio diverted, and more may follow. Winn-Dixie officials declined to comment on the investigation Monday.

Maureen Meyer lives less than a block from Faedo's gray, fortresslike store at 15th and Rodney streets near Tampa's College Hills area. She said she shopped there about twice a week, mainly for hair products and lotion. Although she saved a dollar on her Alberto V05 hairspray, Meyer said she would never go to another second-market store.

"I think it's disgusting," Meyer said. "I'm a good Christian, I believe in helping people and I think this is terribly pathetic.

"Imagine. Stealing from the poor for 100 percent profit."

People interested in donating to Divine Providence can call (813) 254-1190.

- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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