Pawn shop owner pleads guilty to purchasing, trafficking millions of dollars of stolen goods

Date: May 11, 2026

Contact: [email protected]

Philadelphia, PA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Larry Leonard of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge John M. Younge to charges of conspiracy to transport and sell stolen goods in interstate commerce, interstate transportation of stolen property, and three counts of money laundering.

The defendant was charged by indictment in December 2024, arising from the theft and resale of millions of dollars of stolen goods that he received, trafficked, and sold through pawn shops he operated and controlled: Society Hill Loan and K&A Money Loan Pawnbrokers, both in Philadelphia, and Lou's Jewelry and Pawnshop in Wilmington, Delaware.

As detailed in court filings and statements, starting in 2019 and lasting through 2023, Larry Leonard purchased from drug addicts and professional thieves millions of dollars' worth of expensive items, including high-end electronics, power tools, electric toothbrushes, and vacuums - all stolen from big-box retail stores such as Walmart, Home Depot, Rite Aid, and Target. Leonard, and co-conspirators working at his direction, paid the thieves a fraction of the retail value of the stolen goods - in cash - and then sold those items on eBay for profit.

From November 2019 through December 2023, Leonard and his co-conspirators sold more than $19 million in stolen merchandise via the eBay storefront "societyhillloan," shipping the stolen merchandise from Society Hill Loan in Philadelphia to customers across the country. In addition to the more than $19 million in eBay sales, millions of dollars of stolen items, primarily high-end electronics, were sold directly to third-party individual wholesalers.

Leonard used the fraud proceeds to afford himself and his wife a lavish lifestyle, which included overseas trips, concerts, sporting events, and luxury items.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on August 25 and faces a maximum possible term of 45 years' imprisonment.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Delaware State Police, and the Philadelphia Police Department. Law enforcement also received assistance from Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy, Target, Dollar Tree, Lowe's, ACME, Bose, Rite Aid, CVS, and Harbor Freight Tools. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew T. Newcomer, S. Chandler Harris, and Eric Gill.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.