PA man arrested for memorabilia fraud

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Posted By: Bob

Anthony, there is a charge called "Theft by Receiving" in which a person is guilty of the felony charge if he either possesses stolen merchandise or possesses it and "should have known" it was stolen. This gives all criminal lawyers headaches as the issue is what is reasonable as far as knowledge goes. This isn't quite the answer to your question but if Tom's Card Shop buys a 1952 Mantle for $250 in nice condition and then John Law strolls in to the shop and spies it in the case and recognizes it as the card that was stolen from Ben Baseballcardcollector, Tom could be in serious deep trouble, even if Tom had no knowledge of the theft. Cases like these surface all the time. I haven't personally seen a baseball card involved around here but in this State, that "should have known" is a jury issue and we all know that going before a jury is a crapshoot. I would think Mr. Tom would be held to a higher standard of knowledge based on his holding himself out as a dealer of sports memorabilia then Sid Streetwalker who buys the card thinking he is just getting a good deal. Again, not exactly an answer to what you asked but another thing to think about in the world of card fraud. In this scenario if Tom gives the cops the card and doesn't ask for anything in return (i.e. out the $250) and assists the cop in trying to determine the identity of the perp, he would probably be ok but it is a slippery slope in some jurisdictions.