17-year-old sentenced after theft ring involving Ulta Beauty in Massachusetts, Connecticut results in thousands of dollars in product stolen

BROCKTON – A juvenile has pleaded delinquent to their role in an organized retail theft ring, Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz has announced. 

On Tuesday, a 17 year-old juvenile pled delinquent to Larceny Over $1,200, and was sentenced to the state Department of Youth Services until the age of 18, the maximum sentence eligible in the juvenile court. 

The plea comes after an active and ongoing investigation by Wareham Police and loss prevention investigators with Ulta Beauty. On January 7, 2024, Wareham Police responded to the Ulta beauty store in Wareham for a report of a past shoplifting incident. The store employee reported that they observed four females, including the juvenile, stuff approximately five bags worth of merchandise and exit the store with the bags, without payment. It was determined that in total, the four women stole $5,818 in products. 

On January 8, 2024, Waterford, Connecticut Police contacted Wareham Police to report a theft at the Ulta store there, also allegedly involving female suspects. The maroon minivan they had been traveling in was impounded. Inside the van were black garbage bags containing numerous items, some with the price tags still attached, including cosmetics and perfumes. Ulta inventory scanners identified the merchandise to be from the Wareham store. As a result of the investigation, which included use of surveillance video inside the store, Wareham Police sought and obtained criminal complaints. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office entered the complaints into National Crime Information Center, and arrest warrants issued for the women.

The juvenile and 35-year-old Amalia Cinca were arrested on January 23, 2024, by authorities at JFK International Airport in New York, as they attempted to board an airplane to Romania. 

Cinca, 19-year-old Andrea Lasmina Ungureanu, and 32-year-old Adriana Bianca Dumitru, were each indicted by a Plymouth County grand jury on one count each of Larceny Over $1,200, Organized Retail Theft, and Receiving Stolen Property. 

Cinca is currently held on $75,000, with conditions that if bail is posted, she must surrender her passport, wear a GPS Monitoring bracelet and stay away and have no contact with all Ulta Beauty stores. 

Ungureanu and Dumitru remain at large, with warrants pending for their arrest. 

In January, DA Cruz announced the formation of the Plymouth County Organized Retail Theft Task Force and hosted more than 50 members of law enforcement and retailers at the Brockton office. The intent is to work together with retailers, Chambers of Commerce, law enforcement, and others to address the issue of store theft. “Retail theft collectively costs communities billions annually, undermining local economies and threatening the viability of storefronts in neighborhoods across the country,” DA Cruz said. “Equally concerning, in recent years organized and habitual theft has become more brazen and violent, raising safety concerns for employees and customers, disrupting lives, jeopardizing livelihoods, and undermining the vitality of communities and neighborhood shopping districts. The intent of our Organized Retail Theft Task Force is to work together with retailers, Chambers of Commerce, law enforcement, and others to address the issue of store theft. We want to ensure that retailers are equipped, and their security needs are met, and maybe also send a deterrent message to the public that this behavior is criminal and unacceptable.”