CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Darwin Alberto Corea Calderon, 34, a Honduran national, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for his role in carrying out a refund scheme and conspiracy that defrauded The Home Depot stores in North and South Carolina of nearly half a million dollars, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. “Those who defraud retailers make prices higher for all of us,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson.
“Corea’s crimes were born out of greed, not necessity. This was a calculated scheme that he repeated over and over, and would continue to repeat, until federal law enforcement brought it to an end.”According to court records, from 2022 to 2025, Corea conspired to conduct an extensive refund scheme against The Home Depot that caused the retailer to issue hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent refunds. Corea targeted more than a dozen Home Depot stores in the region, including stores in Charlotte, Cornelius, Gastonia, Kannapolis, Matthews, and Statesville, as well as stores in Rock Hill and Spartanburg, South Carolina. In total, the scheme defrauded Home Depot of more than $464,000.
In addition to the refund scheme, Corea also committed theft by engaging in a skip-scanning scheme, in which he purposely failed to scan products at Home Depot’s self-checkout registers and walked out with them. U.S. v. Corea - Corea at the Home Depot in Cornelius, North Carolina on June 14, 2023.At today’s sentencing hearing, the government also presented evidence of Corea’s 2024 state felony larceny conviction in Cabarrus County for stealing power tools, a vacuum, and a microwave from Lowe’s Home Improvement. Corea previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
He remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals until he is transferred to a federal facility upon placement by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. After serving his prison sentence, Corea will be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. In making today’s announcement, U.S.
Attorney Ferguson commended Homeland Security Investigations for the investigation of the case and thanked The Home Depot for its invaluable assistance throughout the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Bozin with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.