Adams County woman sentenced for retail fraud investigation, totaling more than $260,000 in fraudulent store credit

MEDINA — An Adams County woman was recently sentenced for telecommunications fraud, following the Medina Township Police Department's large-scale organized retail fraud investigation that totaled more than $260,000 in fraudulent store credit. Tracy A. James, 48, of Peebles, pleaded guilty to one count of telecommunications fraud on Feb. 27 in the Medina County Court of Common Pleas. Following her plea change, the presentence investigation was waived, and Medina County Common Pleas Judge Bill Hutson proceeded to sentencing. James has been sentenced to serve 180 days in the Medina County Jail, with credit for 67 days served. Additionally, she was sentenced to five years of community control supervision and must complete 100 hours of community service. Hutson imposed other sanctions and conditions on James, such as she shall not commit any new criminal offenses and shall obtain and maintain gainful, verifiable full-time employment. James' charges follow an investigation by the Medina Township Police Department, which revealed that she conducted fraudulent return transactions over several years at multiple Home Depot locations, including Medina, Wadsworth and Brunswick, as well as other Ohio locations and some in Kentucky. Medina Township Police Sgt. Michael Oyler, who served as a detective at the time of the investigation, said the department was contacted by Home Depot's Organized Retail Crime regarding multiple fraudulent transactions involving the same people. Investigators determined there were more than 1,700 fraudulent transactions since 2018, totaling $266,699 in fraudulent store credit, which was then used to purchase merchandise that was later resold online. The Medina Township Police Department stated that James used counterfeit driver's licenses and aliases to get store credit through fraudulent merchandise returns. Court documents state that James must make restitution of $266,699 to Home Depot through the Medina County Clerk of Courts jointly and several with the co-defendant, April Mathis. Mathis, 38, of Peebles, was recently arraigned on one count of telecommunications fraud in Medina County Common Pleas Judge Joyce Kimbler's courtroom. Her pretrial is set for May 18 at 8:30 a.m., with a trial set for June 1 at 9 a.m. The investigation was conducted in cooperation with Home Depot organized retail crime investigators and the Medina County Prosecutor's Office. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.