HANCOCK COUNTY — A man and a woman who officials believe are part of an organized retail theft operation have been arrested and charged with several felony counts.
Indiana State troopers found fake driver licenses and stolen clothing in their rental vehicle when they were pulled over for a traffic violation on Dec. 4 on Interstate 70, a mile east of Mt. Comfort Road.
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Anthony Urbanovich, 28, address unknown; and Sharon Sokolovski, 22, New Port Richey, Florida, were being held in the Hancock County jail until late Monday, when each posted a $5,000 bond.
The two made their initial appearances Monday afternoon, Dec. 9, in Hancock County Superior Court 1 in front of Judge Terry Snow. Both defendants pleaded not guilty and indicated they’d hire their own attorneys.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Urbanovich became abnormally nervous when a state trooper questioned him about driving a rental car the contract had not authorized him to operate. They called in a K9 officer.
A check of the vehicle revealed a strong smell of marijuana, and Sokolovski admitted she had smoked marijuana earlier in the day, the affidavit said. A vaping device filled with what appeared and smelled like THC vape juice and a small amount of marijuana were in one of her coat pockets, the affidavit said.
The search also turned up a bag containing four driver licenses that appeared to be fictitious and multiple credit and debit cards, the affidavit said. Two of the driver’s licenses had Urbanovich’s picture on them, the affidavit said. One of them had another name, but the driver’s license number and date of birth matched the license Urbanovich initially gave the officer, the report said.
A check on one of the driver’s license numbers revealed it belonged to an 82-year-old woman in Pennsylvania, the affidavit said.
Among the other fake driver’s licenses was a South Carolina license with Sokolovski’s photo but a different name. A check with the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles revealed it was not an official license.
Troopers also found a large amount of high-end clothing with price tags still intact. Several of the articles of clothing were priced over $900, the affidavit said. An inventory of all the items with tags revealed over $16,000 dollars in clothing, according to the price tags.
Officers also located two security tag-removing devices, a clothes tagging gun and a box of fabric tag fasteners. All of these products are used by individuals involved in retail theft, the affidavit noted.
Officers also discovered receipts from all over the United States. Seven of the 10 receipts show an individual making a return of a high-priced item and exchanging it for something that cost slightly more than the item being returned, the affidavit said. A further investigation showed someone then paid the remaining balance with a debit or credit card. All of these transactions except for one were paid for with a credit card found inside the vehicle.
Several of the clothing items had been reported stolen from retail outlets, the affidavit said. A search of a store’s records indicated over $3,000 in returns had been given to Urbanovich.
Sokolovski is facing eight charges, including a Level 5 felony count of corrupt business influence; a Level 6 felony count of application fraud; a Level 6 felony count of theft; a Level 6 felony count of counterfeiting; a Level 6 felony count of identity deception; a Level 6 felony count of possession of a fraudulent sales document; a Class A misdemeanor charge of false government identification and a Class B misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana.
Urbanovich is facing six charges, including a Level 5 felony count of corrupt business influence; a Level 6 felony count of application fraud; a Level 6 felony count of theft; a Level 6 felony count of possession of a fraudulent sales document; a Level 6 felony count of identify and a Class A misdemeanor charge of false government identification.
Both defendants have been ordered to appear in court for their pretrial conference set for Jan. 29, 2020.
