Morrisville Pawn Shop Part Of $700K Theft Ring: Attorney General

Dozens have been charged after authorities busted an alleged theft ring that was ongoing at two Bucks County pawn shops.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General announced Thursday that Michael Stein, 35, the owner of Levittown Quick Cash Trading Post and Morrisville Loan & Pawn, has been charged in connection with the theft ring. Also charged are four of his employees and 27 professional retail thieves.

Authorities say the accused stole items from major retailers, then pawned them. The pawn shops would then resell the items at full value. All told, about $700,000 in merchandise from national chain stores was stolen, officials estimate.

The charges were announced after a year-long investigation in coordination with Falls Township police, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and other agencies.

According to information from Attorney General Josh Shapiro, agents learned that employees from Levittown Quick Cash Trading Post on New Falls Road and Morrisville Loan & Pawn on W. Trenton Avenue purchased 5,000 stolen items at one-third of their retail value from professional thieves who stole them from the stores.

Authorities say the pawn shops then resold the unopened brand-new merchandise on eBay or other online retailers at full value. Professional thieves, known as "boosters," then used their share of the illegal proceeds to fuel heroin and opioid addictions, the Attorney General alleges.

The pawn shops’ owner and his employees operated under a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, according to the Attorney General. "As long as the thieves did not say the items were stolen, the pawn shop employees never asked," authorities said in a press release.

Pawned merchandise ranged from beauty products to kitchen appliances, Ninja blenders to computer hard drives and more, authorities said.

“These pawn shop workers and their owner knew they were buying stolen merchandise at 30 cents on the dollar, but they were blinded by their own greed,” Shapiro said. “They profited on the addictions of the booster thieves and their desperation for money to feed their addictions. Today we’re holding the pawn shop owner and workers accountable, and we’ve shut this scheme down.”

Those charged include:

• Pawn shop owner Michael Stein, 35, of Langhorne. Charged with corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy.
• The pawn shop workers charged were Lyle Boden, 29, of Philadelphia; Joshua Fedalen, 26, of Sharon Hill; Brian Jancia, 29, of Holmes; and Victor Kline, Jr., 46, of Philadelphia. The pawn shop workers were charged with corrupt organizations, receiving stolen property and conspiracy.
• Booster thieves, who were not listed individually, were charged with retail theft and conspiracy.

The investigation began after loss prevention agents at several large stores, including Walmart, Target, Home Depot, CVS and Giant Foods, noticed a significant uptick in thefts from their stores in southeast Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Attorney General said.

Agents tracked products to the area pawn shops and notified Falls Township police. The Bucks County District Attorney's Office and county detectives became involved. The investigation revealed it was a multi-county operation involving at least four other stores, one in Philadelphia, two in Delaware County, and one in Montgomery County.

“They knew it was stolen merchandise, but they were blinded by their own greed,” Attorney General Shapiro said.

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