On August 22, 2017, in the Circuit Court for Queen Anne’s County, Thomas Edward Johnson, Jr., aged 28, recently from Cambridge, Maryland, but a Grasonville native, was sentenced to 11 years and 6 months to serve in the Maryland Division of Corrections, for his convictions for theft and conspiracy to commit theft, along with two separate violations of probation from previous convictions.  Johnson was tried in a court trial before the Honorable Thomas G. Ross, Circuit Court Judge for Queen Anne’s County.  The case was prosecuted by State’s Attorney Lance G. Richardson.

Mr. Johnson’s latest convictions were based upon a theft perpetrated at the Merrell Clothing Outlet located at the Prime Outlets in Queenstown.  The facts of the case consisted of Mr. Johnson conspiring with a Merrell employee, Stephanie Treadwell, who was committing thefts from her employer.  Treadwell allowed Johnson to enter the store after hours and then she locked the store door to prevent anyone from entering, allowing Johnson to roam the store and ultimately steal six large bags of clothing and shoes.  A fellow employee of Treadwell suspected the thefts and she used her cellphone from a discreet parking space to videotape Treadwell and Johnson stealing from the store after hours and loading the stolen goods into her vehicle.  Treadwell had previously pled guilty to her role in the felony theft scheme and she testified at Johnson’s trial that she allowed Johnson into the store and told him to take whatever he wanted and that she would “take care of it”. Ultimately Judge Ross ordered Treadwell to cover all of the restitution to the Merrell Store which totaled $4,069.85. The judge stated in court “Ms. Treadwell, you said that you would take care of it and that’s exactly what you are going to do.” Treadwell was also sentenced to a period of local incarceration, and supervised probation upon release, for her role in the theft.

Richardson thanked Trooper Durcho of the Maryland State Police for his investigation.  He also wished to publicly acknowledge Kellie Jewell for her efforts in thwarting the theft by videotaping Ms. Treadwell’s crime and testifying against Thomas Johnson in his trial.  Richardson stated “she did what a good citizen does and she exhibited exceptional character and honesty throughout this process.  She is an employee that any business would be fortunate to have.”