UP business made as much as $900K selling stolen Lululemon merchandise, cops say
A woman is accused of selling stolen items from Lululemon through her Pierce County business over the past few years.
Prosecutors charged Marra Ferrlan Carissimo, 55, on Tuesday with three counts of first-degree trafficking in stolen property, according to court records.
Records show Carissimo is scheduled to appear for an arraignment Jan. 30.
Carissimo allegedly acquired stolen Lululemon items and sold them through her business, “New Lu and More,” in University Place. Her business was in the 2800 block of Bridgeport Way West, and charging documents state she allegedly was operating it without the city’s or state’s knowledge.
Charging documents show that from September 2024 to June 2025 Carissimo allegedly received about $919,779.64 through Venmo, a peer-to-peer payment service. Investigators say she withdrew about $72,745.51. The majority of the payments were made to her for Lululemon items, documents show.
The News Tribune has reached out to Carissimo for comment.
A loss prevention officer in the Lululemon organized retail theft division contacted police about two years ago after receiving information that Carissimo might have been acquiring stolen items and selling them. A radio frequency identification scanner showed there were about 600 alleged stolen items at her store. The device can scan Lululemon items that are within a certain radius in just a few minutes, according to charging documents.
Documents show the loss prevention officer told police the stolen items were worth about $75,000 to $80,000. The officer worked with a Homeland Security investigator to serve a warrant on Carissimo’s business where a large number of suspected stolen items were seized.
According to court documents, Carissimo said she got the items from an unknown Romanian source from the internet. She could not provide specific names or locations on where the people were from and how she received the shipment. The Homeland Security investigator gave Carissimo a verbal warning and told her the items were stolen. Carissimo said she would not buy the items from those people again, court records state.
The loss prevention officer and Homeland Security investigator noticed shipments and purchases that were abnormal going through her business again, according to charging documents. Many items were allegedly being sold through Carissimo’s business through her website and other private selling sites.
Five hundred stolen items were located through the RFID scan from Carissimo’s business, documents show. The scan also showed about 1,600 items were coming back as “unidentified.” Documents show that the loss prevention officer said the items were supposed to be shipped but were lost or stolen during the shipping process.
A search warrant was served at Carissimo’s store on Jan. 14, according to charging documents. The store was in a loft above a jewelry store, but there was no affiliation with that business.
An organized retail crime investigator assisted University Place police with the search of the store. The RFID scan allegedly found 1,770 Lululemon items. They were taken to the police station. More than 400 of those items were allegedly confirmed stolen. The remaining 1,093 items had no RFID information, documents show. The investigator believes the 1,093 items were stolen from cargo-theft incidents around the world before they ended up in Carissimo’s possession.
Documents show the investigator believed Carissimo was “clearly recklessly” purchasing and/or getting items that she knew were stolen before reselling them.
Lululemon seized over $100,000 worth of alleged confirmed stolen items from Carissimo’s business. The company also requested prosecution.
