The mastermind of the “California Girls” retail theft ring, Michelle Mack, 53, will be sentenced in January to more than five years in jail and fined $3 million. The gals targeted high-end makeup stores like Ulta and Sephora.
Michelle was apprehended in December on the grounds of her and her husband’s 4,500-square-foot, $2.75 million estate in Bonsall, just outside of San Diego. The property included a chapel that she and her husband, Kenneth, 60, had listed for rent on Airbnb, as well as a vineyard. Prosecutors claim that the pair stole an estimated $8 million between them since 2012, with the $300,000 worth of stolen goods discovered at their residence.
Mack can’t change her guilty plea before sentencing. She is to remain away from Ulta Beauty or Sephora locations and must not communicate with any of the other defendants to save her spouse. The complex plot resulted in charges against nine more individuals.
In February, Michelle entered a guilty plea for his role as the leader of the “California Girls” gang. Among the 140 felony counts brought against the pair in February were allegations of conspiracy to commit organized retail theft and receiving stolen goods. For the sake of their three children, the court has decided to let Mack finish her term after Kenneth.
Mack’s problems started even before she became known as the “queenpin” of cosmetic thievery. According to many who knew her before her 2007 marriage to Kenneth, the stunning blonde had a business up and running and was always plotting her next move. She was the proprietor of an internet store that sold elegant Czech-imported glass crystal nail files and hand-painted wine glasses. To run her wholesale novelty goods business, Mack borrowed over $200,000. However, in 2013, she failed to repay the debt, according to court records.
After selling their 4,447-square-foot Gilbert, Arizona, estate, the couple started a new business called San Tan Mountain Weddings & Parties, where they hosted weddings and other parties. The wedding rental business failed, and the happy couple uprooted their family to a San Diego suburb, where they spent $2.75 million on a house that is currently on the market.
The pair first entered not-guilty pleas in March but have since pleaded guilty to all charges.
