Woodbury business owner accused in stolen-goods ring

The owner of a Woodbury retail store was charged Thursday in federal court with conspiring to sell stolen DVDs and electronics goods through the store, Media Exchange, and on the Internet.

Christopher Allen Janota, 42, of St. Paul, was charged by prosecutors in a "felony information," a manner that usually precedes a plea agreement. He brings to 10 the number of defendants who have been charged in connection with the investigation in Minnesota.

Woodbury police and U.S. Postal inspectors began investigating the case in 2007 and uncovered what they said was an organized ring of about 100 "boosters" who spent several years pilfering millions of dollars worth of goods from stores such as Target and Best Buy and selling them for pennies on the dollar to retailers such as Janota.

The case started when Woodbury police officer Chris Huhn noticed a stream of people hauling crates full of new CDs, DVDs, video games and high-end electronics to the Media Exchange store in the Valley Creek Mall. The Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force joined the investigation and identified perhaps two shoplifting gangs, as well as some lone operators.

Huhn, joined by U.S. Postal Inspector Troy Sabby, seized truckloads of merchandise and business records from Media Exchange and a company called InetDVD.com in 2007, effectively shutting them down. Sabby said the businesses, which are not related, had been reselling the stolen property as high-quality "used" goods through eBay, Amazon.com, and their own Internet and retail outlets.

John T. Jundt, 34, of Cottage Grove, pleaded guilty in 2008 to trafficking in stolen goods and awaits sentencing. He was CEO of InetDVD.com.

Lisa Krey, 39, and Thomas Pracht, 32, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy and await sentencing.

Rodney Jay Shafer, 45, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty in 2009 to conspiracy and awaits sentencing.

And an indictment handed up in August charged Daniel Adolph Labarre, 50, of St. Paul; William John Terry, 61, of Stacy; Rachel Lynn Miller, 39, of Oakdale; and Mark Jerome Terry, 54, of St. Paul, with conspiracy. All of them have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

Federal court records show that a separate investigation resulted in an Illinois man pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge related to transporting and selling stolen DVDs from the St. Louis area to Media Exchange's outlet in Woodbury in 2004. Brian Mazur of O'Fallon, Ill., was sentenced to 15 months in prison in November 2005.