Man gets 3 years for role in cell phone theft ring
David Lee Mullins Jr., courtesy of Hennepin County Jail
A 27-year-old was sentenced on Friday to three years in prison for his role in a cellphone theft ring.
Court records show that David Lee Mullins Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering on Sept. 8. He then failed to appear at his sentencing in November and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He has credit for 63 days already served and must pay over $97,000 in restitution and court fees.
As previously reported, Mullins is one of 12 people who were charged in September of 2022 for victimizing over 40 people in a cellphone theft ring. The operation allegedly ran from June 2021 through May 2022.
Court documents state the suspects also moved money from the victims’ phones to people who were in the ring. They would also target people leaving bars, sometimes taking the phones by force.
The suspects then funneled the phones to a man named Zhongshuang Su, nicknamed “the iPhone Man,” who would then sell the phones — sometimes internationally, court documents state.
Overall, the thefts are said to have cost more than $300,000.
Su was sentenced in early November.