Jury finds Little Falls man guilty in Reed's store theft

MINNEAPOLIS - A federal trial jury on Tuesday in Minneapolis convicted a 34-year-old Little Falls man of selling via the Internet items he stole from the Walker sporting goods store where he worked.

David Earl Gregoire was found guilty of five counts of mail fraud in connection to his crime. He was indicted on Sept. 23, 2009.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Gregoire took about $265,339 worth of merchandise from Reed's Family Outdoor Outfitters in Walker.

Gregoire, a clerk at Reed's from 1995 to 1998, began working for the store again on a contract basis in 2000. From August 2005 to June 2008, he stole merchandise from the business while supposedly transferring it from the warehouse to the retail stores. Gregoire subsequently sold the stolen items through an Internet auction site, often for below wholesale costs. On five occasions, he delivered the stolen merchandise to Internet buyers through the U.S. mail.

Gregoire faces a potential maximum penalty of 100 years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Ann D. Montgomery will determine his sentence at a future date.

This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Morrison County Sheriff's Department, the Little Falls Police Department, the Cass County Sheriff's Department and the Bemidji Police Department.