Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Chester Culler, 48, from Queens, New York, has been sentenced to nine months in prison. U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford also imposed three years of supervised release on Culler for defrauding TJX stores of over $400,000 across 30 states. The first 18 months of his supervised release will include home incarceration.
Court documents reveal that between July 2020 and February 2024, Culler committed more than 800 acts of theft and fraud at TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) stores such as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods. Culler's method involved stealing merchandise from a store, returning it for a gift card under false pretenses, making purchases with the card and some cash to obtain a receipt, altering the receipt to appear as an all-cash transaction, and then returning the items for a cash refund. This scheme resulted in losses totaling approximately $416,417.88 for TJX.
Culler was arrested on February 7, 2024 by Wethersfield Police after a complaint from a TJX Loss Prevention investigator at a Marshalls store in Wethersfield. At his arrest, he had three different identifications: Chester Culler, “David Peace,” and “Chester Tyler.” Initially charged with state offenses in Connecticut, he was later indicted federally in the Western District of New York before the case moved to Connecticut.
On April 30, 2024, Culler pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in New Haven.
Judge Shea mandated full restitution from Culler and banned him from entering any TJX stores.
After being detained since his arrest until his guilty plea when released on bond, Culler is now under home incarceration with electronic monitoring while living with a third-party custodian. He is allowed to leave only for medical appointments including regular dialysis sessions.
Culler's criminal record includes over 20 convictions related to fraud and other crimes. In 2016 he was sentenced to four years in jail in Stuart Florida for possessing a fictitious driver's license linked to an investigation into fraudulent activities involving altered receipts at retail chains across several states.
The investigation into this matter was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), local police departments and TJX Loss Prevention investigators. Assistant U.S Attorneys Anastasia E King Nancy V Gifford from Connecticut along with Aaron J Mango from New York prosecuted the case.