Pleas Follow Filing of Criminal Information Alleging Defendants Stole Property Belonging to Immediate Family Member of a Then-Former Government Official
WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. September 7, 2022:
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that AIMEE HARRIS and ROBERT KURLANDER pled guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property involving the theft of personal belongings of an immediate family member of a then-former government official who was a candidate for national political office. HARRIS and KURLANDER pled guilty Wednesday before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave and will be sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Harris and Kurlander stole personal property from an immediate family member of a candidate for national political office. They sold the property to an organization in New York for $40,000 and even returned to take more of the victim’s property when asked to do so. Harris and Kurlander sought to profit from their theft of another person’s personal property, and they now stand convicted of a federal felony as a result.”
FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said: “As they’ve admitted with today’s pleas, the defendants conspired to steal an individual’s personal property, which they subsequently sold to a third party and delivered across state lines. As a consequence of their actions, they now face punishment in the federal criminal justice system for their crimes. I’d like to thank the Public Corruption Units at both the FBI’s New York Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their dedicated effort in this case.”
According to the Information and statements made in court:
In or about September 2020, HARRIS and KURLANDER conspired to steal, transport across state lines, and sell personal property that belonged to an individual (the “Victim”) whom HARRIS and KURLANDER knew was an immediate family member of a then-former government official who was a candidate for national political office.
The Victim had stored the property, including a handwritten journal containing highly personal entries, tax records, a digital storage card containing private family photographs, and a cellphone, among other things, in a private residence in Delray Beach, Florida, at which HARRIS was temporarily residing.
After HARRIS stole the property, she enlisted KURLANDER to help her facilitate its sale. HARRIS and KURLANDER then made contact with an employee of an organization based in Mamaroneck, New York (the “Organization”), who instructed them to use an encrypted application to communicate with the Organization and requested photographs of the Victim’s property.
After receiving the photographs, the Organization offered to pay for HARRIS and KURLANDER’s transportation of the property from Florida to New York City. HARRIS and KURLANDER subsequently traveled to New York City with the Victim’s property at the Organization’s expense and met with employees of the Organization.
During that meeting, HARRIS described the circumstances of how she had obtained the Victim’s property, provided the property to the Organization, and disclosed that the Victim had stored additional property in the residence where HARRIS continued to have access.
After the meeting, and at the Organization’s request, HARRIS and KURLANDER returned to Florida to obtain more of the Victim’s property in order to provide it to the Organization. They later met with an Organization employee in Florida and gave that employee more of the Victim’s stolen property, believing that the Organization would transport or cause the transport of the stolen property from Florida to the Organization’s offices in New York, which the Organization subsequently did. The Organization subsequently paid HARRIS and KURLANDER each $20,000 for the stolen property.
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AIMEE HARRIS, 40, of Palm Beach, Florida, and ROBERT KURLANDER, 58, of Jupiter, Florida, each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Under the terms of their plea agreements, HARRIS and KURLANDER each agreed to forfeit $20,000, and KURLANDER agreed to cooperate with the Government.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Jacqueline C. Kelly, Robert B. Sobelman, and Mitzi S. Steiner are in charge of the prosecution.
