Florida man faces over 500 charges for allegedly dealing stolen items, violating pawnbroker laws
FORT LAUDERDALE — A Florida pawnbroker is facing over 500 charges after he was accused of dealing with stolen property and failing to report transactions with law enforcement.
Ronald Plavnicky, 58, was arrested on Thursday and charged with 502 counts of dealing in stolen property and failing to report to local law enforcement, court documents said. The latter charge is a violation of Florida State Statute 539, which is also known as the Florida Pawnbroking Act.
According to the documents, Plavnicky "knowingly accepted or received misappropriated property" from a customer during a transaction at his Pompano Beach pawn shop on Sept. 27. He then unlawfully trafficked items belonging to retailers such as Home Depot, Walmart and CVS.
The court documents alleged that Plavnicky "knew or should have known" the property he was dealing with was stolen.
It was also revealed that Plavnicky's pawn shop was not reporting its transactions into Leads Online, an electronic reporting system where pawnbrokers are required to enter items they purchase within 24 hours of a transaction. According to the documents, the system allows the Broward County Sheriff's Office and other local law enforcement to track what items are being sold and pawned. Plavnicky's shop would allegedly purchase stolen items and later sell them without reporting them in the system.
Following an internet search, BSO also found that Plavnicky's shop had an inactive website but would allegedly advertise merchandise on Instagram. BSO then opened an investigation into the pawn shop.
During the investigation, BSO learned that Plavnicky's pawn shop was not entering items into the system "in an attempt to deter law enforcement," the documents said. It was also revealed that the shop failed to report items purchased between November 2018 and May 2019.
Throughout the investigation, Plavnicky's pawn shop would also pay the undercover deputy "far below market value" for all the items sold. Additionally, Plavnicky allegedly purchased "brand new, in-the-box" items that he would later place for sale and items that had on spider wrap — a wired alarm that prevents theft. He allegedly committed these types of transactions on four separate occasions, the documents said.
Plavnicky appeared in bond court on Saturday, where a judge set his bond at $110,000.