Coolkicks owner indicted in scheme to steal $2 million of shoes from Nike
A federal grand jury indicted an owner of the Los Angeles shoe store Coolkicks for his alleged part in a cross-country scheme to steal products from Nike.
After a years-long joint investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department and FBI arrested Coolkicks co-owner Bereket Abraham, 39, and 11 others for allegedly using the popular Melrose business to steal more than $2 million worth of shoes from Nike's Memphis warehouse between 2021 and 2024.
Investigators said Abraham and another suspect, Roy Lee Harvey Jr., used the store's UPS equipment to create falsified shipping labels. The pair sent the labels to accomplices working at the warehouse, who placed them on the desired shipments, according to LAPD. Officers said the falsified labels rerouted cargo to Coolkicks and other co-conspirators.
The scheme started to unravel when a snowstorm in 2024 halted deliveries and operations at the Memphis warehouse. During the stoppage, another Nike employee noticed that the falsified UPS labels were pasted onto cargo that was not meant for UPS. Supervisors who had worked with LAPD on previous cases contacted a detective they knew after noticing that both the shipping and mailing addresses were from LA.
Investigators and Nike placed tracking devices in the shipments, which led them back to Coolkicks and other locations.
The stolen shoes were either sold at Coolkicks or online through resellers such as Jorge Cuellar, who is known on social media as "horehead_sales."
Abraham and Cuellar allegedly paid Harvey and other accomplices $900,000 for the stolen product.
If convicted as charged, Abraham, Cuellar, Harvey and the following nine people face a maximum of 15 years in federal prison, $500,000 in fines and up to three years of probation.
- Keith Cannon, 40, of Memphis
- Cadarian Mack, 35, of Memphis
- Julian Baker, 36, of Memphis
- Cortez Spencer, 39, of Memphis
- Roderico McClellan, 33, of Memphis
- Damon Johnson, 30, of Memphis
- Joel Deluna, 42, of Chicago
- Michael Perkins, 40, of Olive Branch
- Marquesio Robinson, 47, of Charlestown
Another owner of Coolkicks, Adeel Shams, was arrested in October 2025 for allegedly buying $500,000 of stolen Nike shoes and clothing.
