August 1, 2023 at 1:19 p.m.
A Georgia man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to one count of wire fraud in connection with a multi-state fraud scheme that bilked Lowe's Home Improvement stores in three states out of more than $100,000 over a one-month period in 2018.
Kirk Christopher Harris, 54, of Atlanta, Ga., pleaded guilty to one of three counts he was charged with in Arkansas, alleging that on Oct. 19, 2018, he purchased $2,123.80 worth of supplies at Lowe's in Jacksonville. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Harris outlined the scheme for U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson, saying that the defendant was detained outside of the Jacksonville store after posing as a contractor purchasing supplies for a customer he had on his cell phone.
Over the course of the offense period, beginning in Sept. 2018 until he was arrested in Jacksonville, the prosecutor said Harris and others made more than 50 fraudulent purchases totaling over $105,000 from Lowe's Home Improvement stores in Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia.
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