CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston couple has been charged in federal court with using their children in a multi-state shoplifting scheme that involved selling stolen goods on eBay.

In an information filed Thursday, Ross and Lisa Knotts are charged with mail fraud for allegedly stealing various items from Target stores in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, then selling the merchandise on the online auction site.

An information generally indicates that defendants are cooperating with the government, and cannot be filed without their permission.

The couple frequently used their three children to help them shoplift various items, which included diabetes test strips, computer printers, and computer and video games, according to the information.

The shoplifting methods included hiding merchandise in the shopping cart and child's stroller, having the children take items off the shelves and into the shopping cart, and having the children push the shopping cart containing items that hadn't been paid for out of the store while the parents hid in the bathroom, the information states.

Then, using Lisa Knotts' eBay account, which had the user name "alwaysfussin," the couple sold the merchandise from Target.

Over a roughly nine-month period starting in spring 2009, the couple held more than 900 auctions, according to the information.

The stolen merchandise retailed for more than $80,000, but the information does not indicate how much the couple made through the auctions.

Target is the only retail store listed as having been victimized in the information.

The mail fraud occurred when the couple mailed the stolen merchandise to the winners of the various auctions, according to the information.

In other federal court news, a Mercer County man was convicted Friday of two counts of interstate stalking following a three-day trial in Beckley.

The jury convicted Thomas C. Shrader, 55, of Duhring, of stalking his former girlfriend, identified in the news release as "DS."

In 1975, Shrader murdered DS's mother, as well as one of DS's friends, in front of her at her North Fork home after she tried to end the relationship, according to the release. Shrader pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, but continued to harass DS from prison.

DS married "RS" in 1978, and the couple moved to Texas to get away from Shrader. However, he continued to try to get information about her out of her family throughout the 1980s, and he was released from prison in 1993.

The jury heard evidence that Shrader carried DS's high school photo and a recent photo of her family in his wallet, and told his friends that she was still "the love of his life" more than 30 years after their relationship ended.

In August 2008, Shrader discovered DS's unlisted home phone number and started calling her, telling her husband at one point that she was still "his God" and he would do anything for her.

When she didn't respond to his harassment, he sent a 32-page letter via UPS to DS at her home in Sugarland, Texas, the release states. Shrader warned DS to resume their relationship before he "initiated his next step," and told her it was time for her to "face the piper" and that she was going to be "Scottie Peterson famous."

In a separate trial in July, a jury convicted Shrader of being a felon in possession of a gun for having three guns when FBI agents arrested him in November 2009.

Shrader faces up to life in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger on Nov. 18.

"Hopefully, today's verdict will bring closure to a haunting chapter in the lives of the victims of Mr. Shrader's crimes," said U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin in a prepared statement. "We will push for the maximum sentence possible, in hopes that Mr. Shrader will never again have the opportunity to terrorize anyone like he did these innocent victims for 35 years."

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.