William Swanberg
William Swanberg is a resident of Reno, Nevada, who has been charged with shoplifting and reselling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of LEGO(R) toys. He is widely known as the "LEGO(R) Bandit." He was arrested in November of 2005 as he left a Target retail store in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Swanberg's alleged theft appears to have focused exclusively on Target stores, in the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. Police and federal investigators were contacted when Target Assets Protection identified similar thefts in a number of stores. Store personnel were also trained to watch out for Universal Product Code (UPC)) sticker tampering on LEGO(R) products.
Arrest
Swanberg had exchanged UPC stickers on several LEGO(R) sets to reduce their prices and then purchased them at the Portland area store. Target Assets Protection employees confronted him as he left the store and summoned police, who found thousands of dollars worth of similarly-altered LEGO(R) products in his car. They also found a laptop computer used to plot directions to several other Target stores.
The resulting investigation of Swanberg's home turned up another estimated $200,000 in LEGO(R) merchandise, which police hauled away in 48 fifty-three-foot cargo containers. Records also found in his home indicate that his sales of LEGO(R) products exceeded half a million dollars over a period of three years. Swanberg was indicted in November 2005 for the thefts.
Involvement with BrickLink
The username of swanberg was a well-known figure on BrickLink, a web site used to buy/sell/trade LEGO(R) products. Some of Swanberg's buyers expressed concern over the possible seizure of their collections as evidence, though this does not appear to have taken place. Postings on BrickLink's discussion forum also hinted at the possibility of a lawsuit against Swanberg based on his unfair sales strategies.
Unclear language in an Associated Press story led several journalists to erroneously identify Swanberg as the owner of BrickLink. This caused a moderate upset among the site's users. A correction was later released by AP.
Mr. Swanberg also performed the function of Inventory Admin on Bricklink for almost 2 years, a task that involved verifying the inventories of LEGO sets.
Conviction
He was arrested on 26 October 2006 on a warrant issued by the United States Attorney's Office in Reno, Nevada.
Prior to trial Swanberg resided at the Washington County, Oregon Jail, held on a $250,000 bail.
He pleaded guilty to theft on 21 April, 2006.
As part of a plea bargain deal, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison on 3 July, 2006.
Swanberg's alleged theft appears to have focused exclusively on Target stores, in the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. Police and federal investigators were contacted when Target Assets Protection identified similar thefts in a number of stores. Store personnel were also trained to watch out for Universal Product Code (UPC)) sticker tampering on LEGO(R) products.
Arrest
Swanberg had exchanged UPC stickers on several LEGO(R) sets to reduce their prices and then purchased them at the Portland area store. Target Assets Protection employees confronted him as he left the store and summoned police, who found thousands of dollars worth of similarly-altered LEGO(R) products in his car. They also found a laptop computer used to plot directions to several other Target stores.
The resulting investigation of Swanberg's home turned up another estimated $200,000 in LEGO(R) merchandise, which police hauled away in 48 fifty-three-foot cargo containers. Records also found in his home indicate that his sales of LEGO(R) products exceeded half a million dollars over a period of three years. Swanberg was indicted in November 2005 for the thefts.
Involvement with BrickLink
The username of swanberg was a well-known figure on BrickLink, a web site used to buy/sell/trade LEGO(R) products. Some of Swanberg's buyers expressed concern over the possible seizure of their collections as evidence, though this does not appear to have taken place. Postings on BrickLink's discussion forum also hinted at the possibility of a lawsuit against Swanberg based on his unfair sales strategies.
Unclear language in an Associated Press story led several journalists to erroneously identify Swanberg as the owner of BrickLink. This caused a moderate upset among the site's users. A correction was later released by AP.
Mr. Swanberg also performed the function of Inventory Admin on Bricklink for almost 2 years, a task that involved verifying the inventories of LEGO sets.
Conviction
He was arrested on 26 October 2006 on a warrant issued by the United States Attorney's Office in Reno, Nevada.
Prior to trial Swanberg resided at the Washington County, Oregon Jail, held on a $250,000 bail.
He pleaded guilty to theft on 21 April, 2006.
As part of a plea bargain deal, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison on 3 July, 2006.
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