How a California Momfluencer Became a Shoplifting Queenpin
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Late last summer, Kimora Gooding and Serena Reyes arrived on the East Coast. For the two women in their early twenties, it was a business trip of sorts, or maybe a mission. Their flights, rental car, and hotel rooms had been paid for, and they carried a list of beauty stores to visit and specific items to steal. The plan was to get in and get out, ship the goods to the boss in California, and head home, hopefully without a trace. Gooding and Reyes were pros—they had each hit dozens of stores, according to an affidavit for a federal search warrant, and could scan for merchandise like they had eyes in the backs of their heads.
The two women headed to Ulta Beauty, a nationwide emporium of beauty, skin care, and fragrances, and consulted their “shopping list,” sent to them via Facebook or text—allegedly the only way they ever communicated with the boss. And then their sticky fingers got to work, collecting serums and lash-lengthening mascaras, the more coveted the better.
But what Gooding and Reyes didn’t know is that they were being watched—and had been for a while. Since August 2023, the California Highway Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations had been looking into a series of thefts at Ulta Beauty stores, with assistance from corporate investigators employed by Ulta. The suspects scooped up in the related busts were almost always young women, typically with previous theft arrests. Soon the authorities zeroed in on a group who appeared to be working in concert. Between September 2021 and fall 2023, the group committed over 230 thefts from Ulta Beauty retail stores across the country, stealing thousands of products. According to a complaint filed by California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, their ground zero appeared to be California, where thefts had occurred in 21 counties, in cities from Sacramento to San Diego, and not just at Ulta, but also at Sephora, Sunglass Hut, and others.
Gooding and Reyes were on the verge of securing another big haul when the authorities descended on the Ulta store. They were arrested and instantly distraught, and it didn’t take long for them to turn on the boss. They didn’t offer many details about her, just that she had paid them, so long as they followed her very specific instructions about where to go and what to collect: cosmetics, sunglasses, designer purses. They said they weren’t the only ones.
When the investigation was complete, a dozen people had been identified and at least six arrests had been made, including the alleged ringleader: Michelle Mack, a fiftysomething mother of three, who lived in a ritzy suburb near San Diego. On social media, Mack posted photos showing her perky blonde bob, immaculate gel nails, and a faux-Tuscan estate. Friends knew her as a dedicated mom who seemed #blessed with a beautiful family and good fortune, even if it wasn’t apparent where all the money was coming from.
But California law enforcement saw a different side of Mack. To them, she was a middle-aged woman who had spent years recruiting and taking advantage of a team of young women in their twenties and thirties—now known collectively as the “California Girls.”
Concerns about retail thefts have reached a fever pitch, as videos of shoplifting flash mobs pervade social media and retailers blame those thefts for rising prices. Where once stores worried about the occasional teen slipping a lipstick into her pocket without paying, they’ve now become highly alarmed at organized retail theft—groups working in concert to steal en masse and then resell goods on the black or gray market. Some cities, such as Los Angeles and New York City, indeed saw a spike in 2022 in reported shoplifting incidents, which more recent data shows is plateauing now. Overall, U.S. larceny rates remain at historic lows and have even declined by 10 percent since 2019, according to research from the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice. That hasn’t stopped political commentators from blaming illegal immigrants, organized crime in foreign countries, alienated youth, and lax law enforcement for the perceived increase.
So it was a shock when it was revealed that at least one person allegedly pulling the strings on a nationwide crime spree is a rich suburban mother of three who doesn’t exactly scream “organized crime queenpin.” Mack had been a serial entrepreneur without much success, a wannabe influencer without much influence. Now it appeared that she had tried something else: using Facebook to stitch together her very own Bling Ring, a get-rich-quick scheme where other women did her dirty work.
As a teenager in South Bend, Indiana, Mack was on the swimming and diving team at James Whitcomb Riley High School. A fellow diver remembers that she was fun to be around, and that she always needed to have the best of everything—jewelry, clothing, perfume, even top-of-the-line swimsuits. “There was a superficial part of her I could never relate to,” he says. He didn’t know Mack’s family but always figured they could give her everything she wanted. “My guess was that she must have been pampered at home,” he says.
She studied management for two semesters at Indiana University South Bend. She got married and had a daughter, but that relationship didn’t work out. She married Kenneth Mack in 2007, and they decided to make a life in Arizona, going on to have two more daughters together.
While living in Arizona, Mack developed an entrepreneurial spirit. She started a jewelry-related business, Facets for Divas, in 2003, before quickly moving on to found 95 & Sunny, an e-commerce operation that occupied a very specific niche: glittery, hand-painted glass nail files manufactured in the Czech Republic. Mack was ambitious and keen to expand the business, and soon moved from her garage into an office and warehouse. She opened an Amazon store, where she added more merchandise, including goblets covered in puffy silver paint that said, “21 At Last” and “60 Aged to Perfection.”
Troy Ballard, a former bookkeeper for 95 & Sunny, also recalls that Mack was all about her image. She drove a bright yellow Hummer—the first Ballard had ever seen. Mack could be hot and cold, Ballard says, playing favorites with employees depending on the day and what she wanted from someone. And she wasn’t a stickler for accounting standards. Ballard says that Mack seemed to have trouble managing the business’s finances and commingled her personal and business accounts in a way that worried her. Ballard says that when she started asking questions more frequently, Mack let her go.
In 2016, while still running 95 & Sunny, Mack embarked on yet another business venture. She was living in Gilbert, Arizona, a city southeast of Phoenix, right near a country club and a Pilates studio where she took classes. Her home, a pretty stone ranch with a large backyard and immaculate landscaping, was perfect for another gig: hosting dream weddings. Mack started a business named after the nearby mountain range, San Tan Mountain Weddings & Events. She assembled flower-topped arches, strung fairy lights over the pool, and scattered rose petals in the fountain for twilight receptions that blasted danceable hits into the still desert night.
The business seemed to suit Mack, who loved to entertain and was known in the neighborhood for her over-the-top Halloween and Christmas parties. Kris Boeldt used Mack as a wedding planner in October 2017, and was impressed by how organized and nice she was. “She was communicative and transparent every step of the way,” he says. On their 10-year anniversary in 2017, Mack and Kenneth posted a tribute to their own marriage on the business’s Facebook page: “I will always remember the love in your eyes and the warmth of your smile the day we were married ten years ago. Happy anniversary, my love.”
Sometime in late 2017 or early 2018, Mack abruptly moved to California with her family. She transferred her business license for 95 & Sunny, listing herself as the CEO, secretary, and CFO, according to the complaint. By then, Mack had opened another Amazon-based business, calling it “Online Makeup Store.”
Almost everyone I spoke to was shocked by the allegations against Mack. They couldn’t square them with the woman they knew—kind, generous, a good friend, devoted to her kids. People were wary of speaking with me—not because they were worried about being associated with unsavory allegations, but rather that they didn’t want to say anything that might harm Mack. But there were signs that things might have been off for a while. One friend recalls Mack running a resale operation out of her home in Arizona; she remembers seeing shipping envelopes stuffed with goods, similar to what was shown on the news after Mack’s arrest, but on a smaller scale. “She just told me she picked them up on sale or clearance and then resold them,” the friend says. Some that I spoke with were surprised to learn Mack had moved to California; they didn’t know she had left until she was already gone.
In the fall of 2018, Mack and Kenneth bought a sprawling estate in Temecula, California, about an hour inland from Laguna Beach, for $1.3 million with an $800,000 mortgage. The 4,000-square-foot house had three bedrooms and a four-car garage and was on a rocky hillside surrounded by a white fence. Three years later, Mack and her family would move again—to even more palatial digs. Their new home, in a tiny but tony part of Bonsall, California, was a Tuscan-style vineyard, complete with a swimming pool, hot tub, and a pretty terracotta-roofed guesthouse. It was a serious upgrade—the Macks paid almost $2.3 million for the house, taking out a more than $1.8 million mortgage.
It’s unclear from court documents exactly when Mack’s alleged criminal activities began, or how she appeared to recruit her army of young accomplices. But the federal search warrant shows some of them had long criminal records for theft. Kimora Gooding, a 24-year-old from California, who turned on Mack when she was arrested in September 2023, has participated in 95 thefts nationwide, including 69 in her home state alone. Her accomplice the day she was arrested, Serena Reyes, has participated in 57. Another of Mack’s California Girls was connected to approximately $120,000 in thefts from Ulta in just a three-month period, according to details cited in an affidavit for a federal search warrant. Was Mack responsible for these arrests, or was she finding her way to young women who had proven willing to do this work?
Once she lured someone into the business, Mack allegedly asked them to recruit additional workers—like the world’s worst MLM. The text messages between Mack and her accomplices, outlined in the complaint, show she was always on top of them, awaiting the next shipment. “Are you still having product come in on Friday?” she texted to Alina Franco, a 37-year-old associate. In January 2023, Gooding messaged Mack, noting that she was “going to start filling up my bag quick. So I want to know stuff I can grab in bulk, too.” Mack and her husband kept track of every haul, providing instructions on where and when to ship the goods, dollar signs in their eyes. “Even without Lancôme we still did well,” Mack texted her husband in February 2023. The next month, Kenneth sent Mack a picture of a full bin of paper orders from Amazon customers with a note: “Lots of orders, let’s get shipping.”
Mack was selling high-end cosmetics like Tarte mascara and Nars blush for 50 percent off the retail price, and they flew off her Amazon store’s virtual shelves. In 2022 alone, her store brought in nearly $1.9 million. She seemingly couldn’t keep the most in-demand brands in stock. In July 2023, Mack messaged Franco: “Did you get some new girls? I really need product so if you have anything please let me know.” How could Sephora and Ulta compete? In effect, she was stealing from them twice; once when she had someone pocket the merchandise, and the second time when a consumer turned to her discount store instead of a legitimate retailer. The women were raking in enough funds to make the risk worthwhile. Between last November and December, Mack and Franco exchanged over $57,000 in Apple Cash funds.
But the walls were closing in. When Gooding and Reyes were arrested, California Highway Patrol Officer Michael Diehl obtained a warrant to search Gooding’s phone. When he reviewed Facebook, WhatsApp, and other chats, it was all there: the plans, the lists of specific merch to steal, the PO Box where she was supposed to send the goods, and the details of her compensation. There were multiple messages detailing transactions for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Diehl did an online search for the exact items requested by Mack, and there they were on Amazon—on the Online Makeup Store, the e-business Mack had started years earlier. There were over 300 items available for sale. According to the search warrant, when he checked a PO Box that belonged to Mack, he learned that dozens of parcels were being mailed to her from across California and the rest of the country.
In December 2023, a search warrant was executed at Mack’s opulent Bonsall home. There, in the garage, law enforcement agents found a cornucopia of goods, mostly from Ulta Beauty and Sephora, all neatly organized by type into plastic containers, like a “mini store.” There were sunglasses with the tags still attached. Bundles of products, and what looked to be at least one Louis Vuitton purse. When totaled, their value amounted to over $300,000. And when agents searched Alina Franco’s home, they found $67,504 in goods. The police arrested Mack and Kenneth at their home; a video soon surfaced online of Mack in pink leisurewear and fake-looking lashes, her blonde hair now long and overprocessed, with her hands cuffed behind her back.
When all was tallied, investigators determined that, since 2012, Mack had sold nearly $8 million worth of goods through her Amazon store. In total, 140 counts were filed against nine defendants—Mack, her husband, Kenneth, and seven young women—including grand theft, receiving stolen property, conspiracy, and organized retail crime. Gooding has an active warrant for her arrest, as does one other defendant. According to the California Department of Justice, Reina Munoz pled guilty and has been sentenced to three years, four months; Asia Mei Drake also pled guilty and is awaiting sentencing. While the Macks, Franco, Reyes, and two others initially pled not guilty, Mack and her husband changed their pleas.
In July, Kenneth was sentenced to five years and four months. Mack’s sentencing has been delayed until January, and she will be permitted to delay her stint in state prison until her husband is released to ensure their daughters are cared for. The Macks have been ordered to pay restitution of $3 million to Ulta and Sephora, and told to stay away from the stores. That luxurious Italianate villa was listed for sale for $2.75 million late this past spring. It was described by the listing agent as “a symphony of sophistication.”
Mack is accused of stealing from massive chain stores, and I suppose it’s possible she saw her acts as a victimless crime. But if that was her logic, it would require her to completely blank on the young women she had allegedly drawn into a criminal conspiracy and who likely don’t reside in multimillion-dollar homes. As the case works its way through the court system, friends are left to wonder if they ever really knew Mack, and how her beautiful life took such an ugly turn. “I don’t know whether it’s him or it’s both of them, or they just got into something that took a wrong turn,” says a friend. “You never know why people do the things they do.”
This article appears in the August 2024 issue of ELLE.
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