Press Release
West Des Moines Man Sentenced to 70 Years in Prison for Retail Theft Scheme, Child Pornography, and Witness Tampering Charges
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa
DES MOINES, IA – On June 23, 2016, Bradley J. Prucha, 39, of West Des Moines,
Iowa, was sentenced by Chief United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey to a total of 840
months, or 70 years, in federal prison for executing a multistate retail theft scheme, producing
and possessing child pornography, distributing Xanax to minors, and attempting to bribe minor
witnesses to change their trial testimony, announced United States Attorney Kevin E.
VanderSchel. Prucha was previously convicted by a Southern District of Iowa jury on March 1,
2016, on multiple counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, production of child pornography,
possession of child pornography, distribution of Xanax to persons under the age of twenty-one,
and witness tampering. Prucha was ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release to
follow his release from prison, pay restitution to the business victims, and $1,900 to the Crime
Victims’ Fund.
Over the course of a six day jury trial, the government presented evidence showing
Prucha was the leader of a retail theft scheme from at least October 2013 until his arrest on June
4, 2015. To execute his scheme, Prucha printed UPC bar code stickers, and then placed the
stickers on items in stores so they would ring up at a lower price. He then returned the items to
stores for their full price, or sold them online through eBay, Craigslist, or directly to bulk buyers.
Prucha committed the thefts between Florida and Iowa, where he maintained separate residences,
and in Nebraska and Illinois. At trial, witnesses described how Prucha recruited adults and
teenagers to place stickers on items, purchase them for the fraudulent price, and make the returns
so as to avoid detection himself. At the time Prucha orchestrated and executed his retail bar
coding scam, he was on probation for having committed a nearly identical bar code switching
scheme in Florida. Prucha admitted to committing the bar code fraud scheme during his trial
testimony.
The evidence at trial also established Prucha used teenage girls to commit thefts for him,
and paid the girls to have sex with him using proceeds from the scheme as well as Xanax. One
witness testified she committed thefts for Prucha starting as young as fifteen years old; multiple
witnesses testified Prucha’s nephew also committed thefts for him from an even younger age. At
trial, the minor victims testified that Prucha gave them Xanax and money to have sexual relations
with him. Prucha filmed three sexually explicit videos of himself engaged in sexual activity with
minors. He maintained possession of the videos on his electronic devices and multiple witnesses
testified that Prucha showed them the videos. Testimony and Prucha’s own recorded statements
played at trial, proved he threatened the victims with physical harm when one victim learned
about the video of her (which had been taken without her knowledge) and threatened to tell the
police.
A former inmate at the Polk County Jail testified that Prucha directed him to offer money
to the minor witnesses for them to sign false affidavits, which would have contradicted their
statements and the evidence in the case. Prucha provided the inmate, someone he knew was a
convicted sex offender, with personal details about the minor witnesses, including hand-drawn
maps to the girls’ homes, their telephone numbers, details about their personal lives, names of
family members, and the hours and location of their jobs.
“The evidence in this case showed Bradley Prucha is a dangerous predator who
manipulated vulnerable teenage girls to commit fraud for him and to have sex with him by
providing them Xanax, money and gifts, and through threats, intimidation, and emotional and
mental manipulation,” said United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. “The significant term
of incarceration Prucha will serve is appropriate and necessary to protect the public and other
potential victims.”
At sentencing, Chief United States District Judge John A. Jarvey imposed a total sentence
of 840 months. Prucha received the maximum term of imprisonment of five years as to the
conspiracy count, 20 years as to six mail fraud counts, 20 years for possession of child
pornography, and 10 years for the distribution of Xanax to persons under the age of twenty-one.
He additionally was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment on each count of production of child
pornography, a consecutive thirty years for committing those offenses while required to register
as a sex offender, and 30 years for each of the four counts of witness tampering.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from
the Asset Protections teams at various retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Toys R Us,
and Best Buy. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of Iowa.
Updated June 27, 2016
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Component