Casa Grande police arrest woman in nationwide laptop scam

Police arrested a woman for allegedly being involved in a nationwide laptop scam.

Casa Grande Police say Sonia Ellis pawned three high-end laptops to a local pawn shop on Nov. 2. Because the laptops were in their original packaging and due to their value, the pawn shop was suspicious and contacted police.

Police then traced these laptops to a company in Pennsylvania that had sold 15 of them to a company in Georgia. This company then sent these laptops to someone that they believed was a George Washington University representative.

The laptops were not paid for in advance because of an outstanding purchase order. The university representative turned out to be Sonia Ellis.

Detectives believe Ellis pawned three laptops in Casa Grande and four more in Mesa. A search warrant was executed on her home and police found eight more laptops, which brings the total to 15 at just over $20,000.

Sonia Ellis has been charged with fraudulent schemes and trafficking of stolen property. She was booked into Pinal County jail.