Rochester man sentenced for thousands of dollars in baby formula thefts

(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester man was sentenced to three and a half years in jail for baby formula thefts dating back to 2020.

Leslie Robinson was convicted of two felonies: theft of property valued between $1,001 and $5,000, and soliciting a juvenile to commit criminal acts, in Olmsted County Court Thursday, May 26.

He will receive credit for 55 days served.

Robinson and his niece were arrested for taking around $1,500 in baby formula from Target South on August 19, 2020.

Two identical charges from a near-identical arrest at Walmart South in February of 2020 were dismissed.

According to court documents, then-58-year-old Leslie Robinson and his then-16-year-old niece loaded a shopping cart with formula at the Target South location and walked out the front door.

All of the baby formula was recovered at the time of their arrest.

According to court documents, a loss prevention officer indicated that Robinson had been responsible for the theft of over $40,000 worth of baby formula theft at Target stores alone by August 2020.

The criminal complaint from his Walmart North arrest tallied more than $21,000 in thefts from Walmart locations by 2020.

Additionally, Robinson is responsible for more than $1,500 in restitution to be paid to Walmart from his prison wages.