Shopped At This Upstate New York Pawn Shop? You Bought Stolen Merch

Stepping into a Pawn Shop feels like stepping into another universe. They don't seem to run on the same rules as the rest of the world, a liminal space where all you have to worry about is finding the right thing at the right price.

Read More: Ralph's Tavern in Albany Serves The Best Wings in New York

Unfortunately, not all Pawn Shops do things by the rules, and one of the most egregious examples in history was just set in Upstate New York.

Get our free mobile app

Contracting Thieves

Typically, Pawn Shops run on the simple principle of buying literally anything off of people, and then turning around and selling at a profit. That's not exactly what Dominic Sprague did.

Sprague owns New York Gold Diamond Pawn Shop in Greece, NY, and between December 2021 and October 17, 2024 contracted literal thieves to acquire his merchandise. Amanda Reeves, Shabon Banks, Chad Lewis, Jr. were contracted by store manager James Civiletti to steal and flip merch from retailers to turn a profit.

How Did the Scheme Work?

Reeves, Banks, and Lewis would head to large stores, and steal brand new, in-box items for Civiletti. They would make runs weekly, or even daily, and sell to Civiletti for a fraction of their price. Civiletti would then turn around and sell the items on eBay for a massive upcharge.

All in all, 670 transactions were made for 37,936 stolen items, netting around $290,000.00 for their efforts. For reference, the value of all the items they stole totaled around $1,160,000.00.

Banks, Reeves, Lewis and Civiletti had already been convicted, and Sprague was officially convicted on February 12th, 2026.