'Bonnie, Clyde' and daughter Julia Bogdanov, steal $9 millions in toys
Arrested in 2014, family stole dolls, toys, cosmetics from across America in last decade
All family members charged were convicted. Jail term begins later this year, after birth of her baby
... Spare a thought for the poor child arriving this world in the custody of such role models.
Pregnant woman who helped her parents steal more than $9 million of toys in a nationwide crime spree has been sentenced to 15 months in jail.
Julia Bogdanov, of Northbrook, Chicago, was arrested alongside her father Branko, 59, and mother Lela Bogdanov, 53, in March 2014 by the Secret Service - bringing a decade-long theft spree to an end.
The family have stolen hundreds of dolls, toys, cosmetics and other valuables from all over the country in the last ten years and sold them online for more than a total of more than $4 million.
Today Julia, who is eight months pregnant, was sentenced to serve a year and three months in jail for her part in the crime ring, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
The Chicago Sun Times.
'Yes, she is an adult. Yes, she is responsible for her own actions. But she was under the enormous pressure and expectations her family placed upon her.'
Bogdanov's parents, who moved to the Unites States from the former-Yugoslavia, admitted in a plea agreement last November to stealing as much as $9.5 million in goods dating to 2004.
Both Branko and Lela face up to about six years in prison when they are sentenced later this month.
Prosecutors say that Lela would don a long black skirt with large compartments sewn on the inside during the family's shoplifting binges. Shop staff became suspicious after she would be seen on Surveillance cameras leaving the stores some time later with her skirt looking. She was also accused of faking having cancer in a bid for leniency. noticeably fuller.
Prosecutors say authorities found $74,698 in merchandise in the family's Northbrook home in Chicago
Prosecutor Renato Mariotti said at an earlier hearing that Lela's slow shuffle in court didn't match her behavior on surveillance video which shows her sprinting out of stores with toys and other items concealed in her skirt.
Investigators watched footage of the Bogdanovs leaving a Toys 'R' Us in New Orleans when a gust of wind revealed a box hidden in the lining of her dress.
Meanwhile, Lela's husband Branko, who has a previous theft conviction from Georgia in 1989, and was convicted of burglary in Texas in 1977, was accused of concealing his wealth.
The 59-year-old claimed he was $28,500 in debt and owed $1.3million on his house and 12 cars- which include a Lexus and Corvette.
Julia, who has a history of thefts on record including a 1997 conviction in Florida, would help her parents by causing a distraction.
During one theft at a Barnes & Noble in Maryland, she ran interference after a guard clocked her parents trying to take mini American Girl dolls.
Her father then choked a store detective, court records show.
The United States Secret Service brought down the Bogdanovs after Barnes and Noble Inc. and Toys R Us Inc. contacted the agency about what the complaint describes as 'a huge loss in merchandise
The United States Secret Service brought down the Bogdanovs after Barnes and Noble Inc. and Toys R Us Inc. contacted the agency about what the complaint describes as 'a huge loss in merchandise'. With the help of those companies and eBay, authorities traced stolen items to an online trading account of the cooperating witnesses, who, in turn, agreed to help in the investigation of the Bogdanovs.
Prosecutors say authorities found $74,698 in merchandise in the family's Northbrook home.
Their latest spree before the 2014 arrest and seen them sweep through Louisiana, Tennessee, Maryland, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas - stealing high end toys and baby items as they went.
Julia Bogdanov, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, was told she must start her 15 month jail term on September 12.
She had told the judge: 'I'm a first-time mom. This is my first baby.'
She also assured the court she had no plans to return to her life of crime. But Judge Wood seemed dubious about her promise to keep herself of trouble.
'I can't help but feel that Ms. Bogdanov is not so much sorry for what she did, but sorry that she got caught,' Wood said. Despite her record, Julia currently works at a cosmetics counter at a department store.
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