A local business owner is behind bars Wednesday after he was arrested in connection to a multi-state cargo ring.
Authorities arrested William Shepard Ellison, 70, the owner of Shep's Discount Store and Shep's Chicken and Auction House.
Last January, the FDLE raided his businesses and charged him with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Investigators say three people stole semi-trucks and trailers with various cargo from Georgia and Florida and transported the cargo to Ellison's two Jacksonville businesses. Authorities issued search warrants where they seized thousands of stolen items. They say Ellison also sold the stolen property.
Two of the three people who stole the trucks are in police custody, the report says. Pedro Fernandez Hernandez, 47, is at the Florida Department of Corrections and Lewis Dominguez, 33, is in federal custody on unrelated charges. Police are still searching for Juan Carlos Castaneda Quintana, 45, of Broward County.
The charges all face include racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and grand theft.
