I bought a stolen iPhone off of craigslist?

I took it to Verizon Wireless and they said it was stolen and that they couldn't do anything with it. Is there anyway I will be able to use this phone? Would unlocking it allow me to activate it?

If the phone has a "negative" esn, electronic serial number (either meid or imei pending if it is an iphone 4, 4s, or 5), then you will not be able to activate the line on the Verizon Wireless network. Only the account owner, original purchasee of the phone can have it requested to be move from the lost stolen list. Hope this helps. It may be able to be activated on another network, like page plus that uses Verizon's airwaves.

You could flash it to Cricket or Metro pcs but these are prepaid carriers. I would just use it as a iPod or resell it.

I read an article about that. That a lot of stolen merchandise was recovered off of craigs list. Here is a link I found that might be helpful
http://abcnews.go.com/m/blogEntry?id=14818912

Email me the iphone model.
I work at apple and can help

If it's iPhone 4S or 5, you an get it factory unlocked and use with SIM. If it's iPhone 4, then you can get it flashed to other CDMA carrier. You can get your phone flashed too if it's iPhone 4S or 5. You can mail this person (arghyle@rocketmail.com) who can help you get the phone factory unlocked / flashed.