A former Tampa-area pastor and his once high-flying academic wife, hailed for her work as a Fulbright scholar studying drug addiction, have been exposed as the masterminds behind a sprawling, years-long power-tool theft ring.
Prosecutors say the scheme raked in more than $2 million, exploiting vulnerable people as the pair hid the proceeds behind an online storefront.
Robert Dell, 59, a former Pinellas County pastor, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while his wife, Jaclyn Dell, 41, received a 21-month sentence after a jury convicted the couple of running a sophisticated organized retail theft operation that targeted Home Depot stores across several Florida counties.
The case, which unfolded over nearly a decade, revealed what prosecutors described as a relentless, almost daily scheme.
Power tools were stolen from store shelves and taken to a home in St. Petersburg before being placed onto eBay under the account name ‘Anointed Liquidator,’ where the couple turned illicit goods into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.
Authorities said the operation ran from 2015 through 2023 and spanned at least seven counties.Â
Investigators alleged the couple ultimately generated more than $2 million in proceeds although earlier estimates tied to the broader investigation suggested losses could be even higher.
At the center of the scheme was a striking and deeply unsettling contradiction.Â
Former Florida pastor Robert Dell was sentenced to 30 years for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Home Depot theft ring
His wife, Jaclyn Dell, a Fulbright scholar, was sentenced to 21 months for her role in the same scheme
Prosecutors said the couple earned more than $2 million reselling stolen power tools on eBay
Robert Dell had once held a position of trust as a pastor and leader in addiction recovery circles.Â
His wife, Jaclyn Dell, built her resume rooted in academic excellence earning a master’s degree in psychology, interning at prestigious institutions, directing a lab at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, and traveling to the United Kingdom as a Fulbright scholar to study the neuroscience of addiction.
In her own words, written before the criminal case unraveled, she described a mission to ‘understand the nature of addiction’ and improve treatment strategies through research.
But prosecutors painted a starkly different reality inside the Dells’ home.
According to court records and testimony, two individuals the couple met through an addiction recovery program, Jessica Wild, 34, and Daniel Mace, 38, became central to the theft operation.Â
The pair admitted to stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of tools from multiple Home Depot stores each day, often visiting four or five locations in a single run.
In a May 2024 deposition, Mace described the routine in blunt terms, telling lawyers he and Wild would get high on oxycodone before carrying out the thefts.
‘I was kind of getting scared towards the end. I wanted to quit it altogether,’ Mace said. ‘I just had a nice, long run, you know? All good things must come to an end eventually.’
Jaclyn Dell, convicted in January of conspiracy to commit racketeering tied to an organized retail theft scheme in St. Petersburg, arrives for her sentencing hearing on Friday, March, 13
Pastor Robert Dell, 59, along with his wife led an addiction recovery program at The Rock Church, where Dell was once a pastor
The Rock Church, where Dell once served, later distanced itself from him, stating it had been more than two years since he worked there. The church is now listed as permanently closed
Prosecutors argued the couple exploited individuals from an addiction recovery program to fuel the scheme
That end came in August 2023, when authorities arrested the group and dismantled what Florida officials described as a major organized retail crime ring.
Wild and Mace later pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to 21 months in prison, while he received a 10-year sentence, with court records noting his prior theft history as a factor in the longer jail term.
Prosecutors said the stolen merchandise was delivered nightly to the Dells’ home, where it was sorted, packaged and shipped for resale. Robert Dell’s mother, Karen Dell, 74, was also accused of helping process the goods and faced a charge of dealing in stolen property.Â
The broader investigation drew sharp condemnation from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who announced the arrests as part of the state’s Organized Retail Crime Exchange task force.
‘This pastor clearly skipped over the commandment – thou shall not steal,’ Moody said at the time, describing the operation as one that stole millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise and resold it online.
Investigators said the scheme relied not just on theft but on manipulation, alleging how Robert Dell used his roles as a pastor and addiction recovery leader to recruit and pressure vulnerable individuals into participating.
Robert Dell, pictured after his arrest in 2023 as the theft ring collapsed
Dell worked with his wife, Jaclyn, and 72-year-old mother, Karen Hurley Dell, to operate the retail ring, the Fed said when the trio were first arrested
Daniel Mace and Jessica Wild were also arrested. The pair said stole most of the goods, which included high-priced power tools, before bringing them back to the Dells to sell
The pair would hit about five to six stores a day, before delivering the tools to Dell (seen here) to be resold online, feds said
At trial and sentencing, the question of Jaclyn Dell’s role became a focal point.
Standing before Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Joseph Bulone in March, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, she insisted she had not known the products were stolen.
‘My husband had a business and asked me (for) favors, and I had no reason to not trust him,’ she said.
She also spoke about her personal struggles, telling the court she had previously battled addiction, had been sober for 13 years, and later relapsed.
‘I’ve taken these five weeks to open my eyes not just to this case but to my life,’ she said. ‘I realize this is not the life that I want. This is not who I am, and this is not who I want to be.’
Her defense attorney, Lee Pearlman, argued she was, in some respects, another victim—suggesting her substance use left her vulnerable and influenced by her husband.
But state prosecutors forcefully rejected that narrative.
Robert Dell, 59, a former Pinellas County pastor, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while his wife, Jaclyn Dell, 41, received a 21-month sentenceÂ
Jaclyn Dell and husband Robert are seen in photos from her Facebook page
Statewide prosecutor Paul Dontenville pressed her on her involvement, asking whether she had participated in the enterprise before traveling overseas. She acknowledged that she had.
‘They chose to exploit those individuals; they chose to profit from those individuals,’ Dontenville said. ‘She plays her role as a co-conspirator very well.’
The judge ultimately sided with the prosecution’s view that the crimes were sustained and deliberate.Â
While acknowledging the operation was not isolated, occurring ‘almost every day for years’, he imposed sentences below the maximum allowed under Florida guidelines, which could have reached up to 150 years for Robert Dell and 30 years for his wife.
The Rock Church, where Dell once served, later distanced itself from him, stating it had been more than two years since he worked there.Â
The church is now listed as permanently closed.Â