Just (Don’t) Do It: Nike Hacker Filches Goods Worth $80,000 Before the Cops Nab Him

I think economics can be restated into one simple statement: if you can't afford it, don't buy it. And if you really want it, then get a job and work until you can. What you mustn't do, however, is filch is from the retailer--just because you can.

That's apparently something Brad Stephenson's momma didn't teach him, because that's exactly what he did, making off with orders of Nike goods amount to $81,419. Now Brad's going to have to learn the hard way that stealing is bad after his indictment.

Lucky for him, Nike isn't pressing charges but they have reached an agreement with Brad that he'll be paying the company back in full for all the stuff he pawned from them. So here's what happened: Brad found out that Nike offered elite-athlete accounts to certain clients, which they could use to order goods without having to pay for them.

Through his association with professional athletes he learned about the Nike elite-athlete accounts. Once he gained access to the accounts, he ordered merchandise from Nike by listing himself as a guest of the account holder

Brad got access to twelve such accounts and began to pile on the orders. The value of the goods totaled to over eighty grand. What he did with all of that stuff, we'll never know. Word is he sold some of them, wore what he could, and gave away his spoils to his friends and family.

Nike eventually caught on and, upon contacting the rightful account owners, found out that they weren't the ones who placed the orders. Secret Service agents knocked on Brad's doors when he turned 25 and nabbed him for his scam.

It was a pretty stupid thing for Brad to do. He hasn't revealed how he managed to gain access to those elite-athlete accounts, but he's written a tell-all book that details how everything went down.