A Memphis man who stole a trailer full of Water Piks bound for Amazon, sold them on eBay, then tried to steal them back from his own buyer has been sentenced to two years in federal prison. Gregory Luss, 44, must also serve three years of supervised release and pay more than $420,000 in restitution after a scheme that escalated from cargo theft into a highway pursuit involving 18 people in six vehicles.
According to Action News 5, Luss delivered many of the stolen Water Piks to a buyer in Texas, only to later return in an attempt to steal them back. When the buyer confronted him, Luss fled in his delivery truck and led law enforcement on an interstate pursuit. During that chase, he struck six vehicles carrying a combined 18 passengers and also struck a warehouse manager, the station reported.
The case traces back to October 20, 2023, when a semi-tractor trailer loaded with Water Piks intended for shipment to Amazon was stolen from the company's Bledsoe Cove location in Memphis. Per cdllife.com, Luss posted the stolen products for sale that same day on an eBay account registered in his own name — a detail investigators later used to tie him directly to the theft.
Guilty Plea Came Months Before Sentencing
Luss pleaded guilty on March 3, 2026, to one count of possessing goods stolen from an interstate shipment, the outlet reported. Before sentencing, he had faced up to 10 years in federal prison, and the same reporting noted that the federal prison system has no traditional parole, although federal inmates may receive sentence credits or other authorized reductions.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee reported that Luss stole the trailer and then listed the stolen products for sale, an account echoed in the seed reporting. The FBI Cargo Theft Task Force served as the investigating agency on the case, according to the same cdllife.com account.
A Growing Problem on the Nation's Highways
Stolen freight is increasingly resold through online marketplaces and physical retail locations, according to TT News. Verisk CargoNet recorded $131.58 million in cargo-theft losses during the first quarter of the year, with confirmed cases climbing 29% to 767, according to the same reporting. That pattern mirrors how Luss allegedly moved the Water Piks through eBay before selling directly to a buyer in Texas.
For now, the Memphis case stands as a stark example of how a single cargo theft can spiral. What began as a stolen trailer of bathroom hygiene devices ended with a federal prison sentence, a six-figure restitution bill, and a chase that put more than a dozen bystanders in the path of a fleeing delivery truck.
