Officials announced that two cousins -- who own pawn shops in the Philadelphia region -- have been charged for buying and selling millions of dollars of stolen goods.
Larry Leonard, 60, and Nathaniel “Nat” Leonard, 68, both from Philadelphia, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to transport and sell stolen goods in interstate commerce and interstate transportation of stolen property, United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced in a press release. Larry Leonard was also charged with money laundering.
The Leonards jointly ran three pawn shops: Society Hill Loan and K&A Money Loan Pawnbrokers (“K&A”), both in Philadelphia, and Lou’s Jewelry and Pawnshop (“Lou’s Jewelry”) in Wilmington, Delaware, according to officials.
Officials said Larry Leonard controlled the day-to-day operations of K&A and oversaw the day-to-day operations of Lou’s Jewelry. Nat Leonard controlled the day-to-day operations of Society Hill Loan.
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It is alleged that Leonards were using their business to buy and sell large volumes of new, stolen, in-box merchandise supplied by two main groups.
The first group, known colloquially as “boosters,” collectively stole millions of dollars of new retail merchandise from retailers in the Philadelphia and Delaware region and elsewhere, including from The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, CVS, Rite Aid, Safeway, and others, which the "boosters" then sold to the Leonards’ pawn shops for cash, according to officials.
Officials said the other group, referred to by the Leonards as “mooks,” collectively stole millions of dollars of new retail merchandise from across the United States, which the “mooks” then resold in bulk quantities to the Leonards and other pawn shop employees for cash on a recurring basis.
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It is also alleged that the Leonards transferred the stolen goods from Lou’s Jewelry in Delaware and K&A in the Kensington section of Philadelphia to Society Hill Loan in South Philadelphia, where they then listed the stolen merchandise for sale on the Society Hill Loan eBay site, which they controlled.
Officials said from Nov. 2019 through Dec. 2023, the Leonards allegedly sold more than $19 million in stolen merchandise through their eBay site. It is also alleged that they have shipped the stolen merchandise from Society Hill Loan in Philadelphia to customers across the country.
Larry Leonard is also charged with three counts of money laundering for using the proceeds of the illegal sale of stolen merchandise to pay off more than $120,000 in credit card bills from Dec. 2022 through April 2023, officials said.
If convicted, Larry Leonard faces a maximum possible sentence of 45 years’ imprisonment and Nathaniel Leonard faces a maximum possible sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.
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