Chicago man sentenced to 5 years for stealing more than $1M in phones, gear from Verizon

A Chicago man who admitted he stole more than $1 million worth of iPhones and iPads from Verizon Wireless has been sentenced to more than five years in prison.

A federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, sentenced Stephen Gunn on Thursday and ordered him to pay $2 million in restitution.

Gunn pleaded guilty in April to one count of wire fraud conspiracy.

Federal prosecutors say Gunn accessed online accounts of dozens of Verizon's customers in New Jersey and elsewhere and placed unauthorized orders for smartphones, accessories and other electronic products.

At Gunn's direction, two FedEx drivers intercepted the shipments, removed the contents and reshipped the contents to Illinois addresses Gunn provided. Gunn paid each driver thousands of dollars.

The drivers have been sentenced to prison.