Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for Transporting Stolen Electronics Across State Lines

BOSTON – A Pennsylvania man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Worcester for his involvement in a series of burglaries and attempted burglaries of Target retail stores, including two in Massachusetts.   
 
Elijah Aiken, 36, of Allentown, Pennsylvania was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 15 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.  Aiken was also ordered to make restitution to Target in the amount of $194,539.  In May 2019, Aiken pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to transport stolen goods in interstate commerce and two counts of interstate transportation of stolen goods.  
 
From December 2014 until February 2015, Aiken conspired with his brother Akbar Aiken, and others, to break into numerous Target retail stores during early morning hours, usually by using portable blow torches to cut through the metal loading dock doors at the rear of the stores.  Once inside, Aiken and his co-conspirators stole electronic devices valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, including cellular phones and computer tablets.  Aiken transported the stolen electronics across state lines in order to sell them to buyers in New York.  Aiken and his co-conspirators burglarized Target stores in Easton and Westborough, Massachusetts, as well as in Pennsylvania and Connecticut.  During that same time period, he also attempted to break into Target stores in New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Aiken was arrested in 2015 after an unsuccessful attempted burglary at a Target store in Southington, Connecticut.   
 
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement.  Assistance was also provided by the Westborough and Easton police departments, the Torrington, Connecticut and Southington, Connecticut police departments and the Pennsylvania State Police.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg A. Friedholm of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office.