STUART — A Martin County man will spend the next 10 weekends in jail and another year on probation for illegally rolling back prices on Wal-Mart items such as Xbox games, diapers and fishing supplies to 75 cents each.
Paul Joseph Vest, 25, allegedly shopped at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 4001 S.E. Federal Highway in Stuart and used copiedÂ
bar code stickers from a toy car to ring up items at reduced prices in the self-serve checkout lanes.
In five trips, police said, he rang up items that included the games and supplies, as well as spark plugs and car mats. Wal-Mart officials and Stuart police used video surveillance to catch him during his last checkout, March 11.
Vest was charged with scheming to defraud, as well as several counts of retail theft.
He pleaded no contest to a single count of scheming to defraud and received the probation and the jail sentence as part of a plea agreement.
Judge Robert Belanger withheld a judgment of guilt, meaning Vest could later petition to have his record expunged.
As part of the agreement, Vest will have to pay $100 in restitution to Wal-Mart and will never be allowed in the Stuart store.
I think the Walmart store is just upset they were stupid enough to let those items go so cheaply without checking into it. It’s not that hard to tell if a tag has been removed and replaced! It’s not on right! It also wouldn’t ring up with the correct description.