Pawnshop owner sentenced to prison in scam

Martin D. Levy, the former owner of a well-known downtown Seattle pawnshop, was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for selling items through his shop that had been stolen by drug addicts.

In a deal with prosecutors, Levy, 71, who owned Liberty Jewelry and Loan, pleaded guilty in May to four counts of trafficking in stolen property and two counts of possession of stolen property, all felonies, as well as one count of solicitation to commit second-degree theft, a misdemeanor.

Levy, of Mercer Island, had also been charged with one count of leading organized crime, punishable by up to 16 ½ years in prison. That charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Levy's daughter, Leslie Calvo, and son-in-law, Richard Calvo, of Burien, have also pleaded guilty in the case and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.

Levy paid thieves and drug addicts a small fee, usually 10 percent of the item's value, to steal golf clubs, cellular phones, designer clothing and art from local retail stores. He and family members then turned around and sold the items at the Pike Street pawnshop in a scheme that went on for years, according to court papers. Levy and his co-defendants also sold some items on eBay and kept others for themselves.

During a one-year period in 2004, more than $110,000 in items were sold on the eBay account belonging to the pawnshop, according to court papers.

Specific stolen items purchased by Liberty included dozens of new Armani suits, a $4,500 crystal vase and other artworks from various Seattle glass shops and KitchenAid mixers from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

After receiving a tip, Seattle police began investigating the shop in 2004 using informants who sold stolen property to the defendants. The investigation found that the shop's employees did not document items it was receiving and selling as required by law; failed to record the names of those who sold the shop items; and specifically asked informants to steal particular items of value, according to court documents.

Levy was not present during all transactions of stolen goods and might not have even known about all of them, though he was generally aware of the conduct, according to John Hillman, assistant attorney general for the state. The Attorney General's Office prosecuted the case because a relative of the defendants works for the King County Prosecuting Attorney Office.

King County Superior Court Judge Dean Lum also sentenced Levy to one year of jail suspended on the condition that Levy complies with probation requirements for two years after release from prison. Levy was also sentenced to pay about $86,000 in costs.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com