Jewelry store owner sentenced for selling stolen goods

A Las Vegas jewelry store owner was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday for knowingly selling stolen luxury jewelry.

Nabil “Bill” Sakkab, 39, who was a partial owner of Red Rock Jewelers, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of receiving and selling stolen goods, according to Nevada’s U.S. attorney’s office.

Between September 2010 and February 2012, Sakkab acted as a fence for another man, Jeffrey Cochran. Cochran also pleaded guilty to stolen goods charges. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Sakkab mostly sold Rolex watches that were stolen in other states and brought to Las Vegas. Sakkab sold the watches at Red Rock Jewelers as well as to private third parties.

“Organized retail theft causes billions of dollars in losses to retailers annually,” Nevada U.S. District Attorney Daniel Bogden said. “These losses are usually passed on to the consumers in the form of higher prices on goods, and states lose the tax revenue that would otherwise be generated from the sale of these goods by legitimate dealers.”

Sakkab, who must report to prison by Feb. 14, will have to pay $196,000 in restitution.

Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.