An ebay thief who got caught

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Posted By: Richard S. Simon

A Quincy man pleaded guilty Monday to theft and was sentenced to five years in prison for an eBay scam involving a non-existent Mickey Mantle baseball card.

Jeremy Markell, 29, pleaded guilty to theft over $10,000 and was sentenced by Judge William Mays. Markell also was ordered to pay $29,804 in restitution.

First Assistant State's Attorney Gary Farha said Markell put a photocopy of a 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card on eBay. Two people, one from Pennsylvania and one from Canada, bid on the item and sent Markell checks.

The victims were sent empty envelopes, authorities said.

One check was for $14,051 and the other for $15,789.59. Authorities say they were cashed by Markell's wife, Nancy, who still faces two counts of theft over $10,000.

Nancy Markell, 31, pleaded not guilty in January and faces an April jury trial in Quincy. She is free after posting 10 percent of $20,000 bond.

Jeremy Markell has been in the Adams County Jail since August after being indicted by an Adams County grand jury. He did not post 10 percent of $30,000 bond.

Court records show Jeremy Markell served two previous prison sentences for forgery and writing bad checks in Adams County.

After the checks were cashed and the baseball card was not delivered, victims contacted the Illinois State Police Internet Crimes Unit to report the fraud.

Online fraud is a persistent issue, and eBay has its own fraud investigation division. Unlike a retail outlet, items are not actually seen in person, and the bidder relies on the seller to be honest and to deliver the item upon payment.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported 6,246 Illinois complaints in 2006, the most recent statistics available. Total dollar loss was more than $6 million. The average complaint loss was about $695 per item.

Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Brad Lacey, who heads the general criminal unit based in Pittsfield's District 20 headquarters, says Internet fraud is not that uncommon, but investigators don't often see high-dollar cases like the one involving the Markells.

Lacey says buyers need to use good judgment when purchasing online items.

"We encourage people to do their homework and look at the seller's past history," Lacey said. "If you can, get an e-mail address from somebody who has bought from them before and ask them about the seller."

For large-dollar items, Lacey suggests asking for a personal meeting with the seller if possible, though with the worldwide reach of the Internet that's often impossible.

"It's easy to get a copy of a 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card and reproduce it, and portray to have it in your possession," Lacey said. "It's unfortunate there are people who willingly and knowingly will defraud people."

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This story offers two options if you get ripped off on any collectible.
The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center and state police internet crime units.
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I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.
Unknown author
--
We made a promise. We swore we'd always remember.
No retreat baby, no surrender.
The Boss

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Posted By: Rawn Hill

The judge is Willie Mays!!!!!!!! Incredible.

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Posted By: JK

Perhaps you will be next Larry - Im sure no one will forget about being shilled in one of your auctions either.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I noticed that too Rawn. A Willie Mays going after a Mickey Mantle.

Seems like old times.

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Posted By: Max Weder

Isn't the internet grand? If you want to see Jeremy and Nancy Markell's photos on flickr, here's the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/15950621@N02/

No Mickey photos, nor Willie, nor the Duke.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Nice catch, Max! Did you see those pictures? Damn. Everything in there but a couple of roosters standing in front of a double wide, dressed up in cowboy hats, spurs and carrying signs saying, "No one is making me fight!"

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Posted By: Jeff Prizner

looks like they had a daughter, what an idiot.

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Posted By: Bob

Can you say, "white trash?"

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Posted By: PC

I like the shot of Jeremy and the General Lee.

Is that a real tatoo on the little girl? I know the fake/temporary novelty ones are very realistic, but in this case, I'm not so sure it's fake.


edited to add: happy to see this article, since I'm in the process of trying to get a guy in North Carolina sent to jail for exactly the same thing -- selling Mantle cards he didn't have on eBay, using stolen scans.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Uh, I spoke too soon. Why do all of the white trash, mentally defective psychos in the world have a fascination with abusing farm animals?

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

FREE EGGS!!!!!!!!!1

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Posted By: Rhys

Poor Kid.

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Posted By: leon

white trash, deranged, child molesting, idiocy. ......it's all the same.....

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Posted By: Jason L

The Case of Markle's Boner: Willie Mays says 'Mantle ain't fer Real - give back the cash!'


honestly, though, thanks for sharing the story and advice.

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Posted By: peter ullman

reminds me a bit of natural born killers...but I'm not sure why?

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Posted By: Zinn

and then the comments. Spot on!! White trash!! Trailer trash!!

That fatty in the RV looks like Berta from 2 1/2 Men.

P.S. I like Berta. I like 2 1/2 Men. No disparagment intended

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Posted By: howard

Wow, the one guy must be kicking himself that he paid $1,700 more than the other guy for the same card!

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Posted By: Dave Williams

You know you're a redneck when you think "Taking out the trash" means taking your in-laws out to dinner....

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Dave, that was funny.

PS--I cross examined a guy named Dave Williams last week; if it was you, I'm very, very sorry for the things I said.

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Posted By: Brian Weisner

Hi Jeff,
If it was the same Dave.... You'd be floating in the East River like Kramer... Be well Brian


smiley.....

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Posted By: Sean

yay! Now can we get Carl Meyer for ripping me off $500 please?
The internet crime division never responded to my complaint

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Brian, I'm very brave during cross examinations, you'd be shocked. It's all those gun-packing federal marshals in the courtroom who all claim to be good shots.

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Posted By: Brian Weisner

Hi Jeff,
I'm sure you are.... But I'm still a Tarheel and you are still a Devil, so I can't help it... Be well Brian

PS I always loved that Seinfeld episode...


PS 2 Always nice to see another internet thief taken down...

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Posted By: TONY Galovich

I'd like to meet the 2 cretins who bid on A Photocopy of A card & bid so much $$$
I have a Ton of photos of cards I'd like to sell them & only half of SMR

Did the seller have a photo of him & the chicken in his ebay listing?

That would definitely appeal to the real "sicko's" on ebay

If this thread ran in Mad Magazine it would be hysterical

But sadly this is reality

God help our country!!

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Posted By: Anthony S.

Somehow I get the sense that that might not be the groupie that the band "Alabama" was hoping would step onto their tour bus...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15950621@N02/1819499991/

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Posted By: leon

At first I thought Jeff was kidding. I just looked at the family photo album of this guy and started laughing. And of course of the next photos in the family album.....I knew we weren't too far off in our thinking....



http://www.flickr.com/photos/15950621@N02/1819331409/

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Posted By: Mike

I wonder if they are going to update their photos to include Paige meeting them in prison.

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Posted By: Louis Bollman

About 5 years ago I was on my way to Ft. Washington from Chicago. I had three purchasing appointments on the way so I drove. After being in my car a few minutes I realized that the navigation system on my overpriced SUV was malfunctioning. Being a very GPS navigation dependant kind of guy, I pulled into the dealership that I purchased the vehicle from; it took about 15 minutes to fix the problem then I was on my way to Detroit for two purchases and then to Ohio for the third appointment.

After unpacking at Ft. Washington I realized that I was missing two cards that I was reasonably certain that I packed. Both cards were consigned, a 1915 Cracker Jack Matty PSA MINT 9 and a 1957 Topps Spahn PSA GEM MINT 10 (total value on the two $40,000-$50,000).

When I got home from the trip I couldn't find the two cards but I still wasn't as worried as I should have been. I had stuff in my safe deposit, some things at my new office that I was moving to, and other things packed in preparation of my move. Beyond that, I had a very expensive insurance policy.

The cards never showed up after the move so I contacted my insurance company and they told me that without a police report they wouldn't pay. When contacted a few police departments in towns that I stopped along the way I was informed that I could find myself in bigger trouble if I filed a police report based on a hunch, unless I was certain that the cards were taken in their jurisdictions I could have legal issues for filing a "false" police report.

I was just s@#t out of luck!! I paid the consignor out of my own pocket. At the time he was unhappy because I had to make a few monthly payments. In the meantime word of the incident spread around the high-grade / graded card community that it was most likely that I stole the cards myself and sold them in a private deal. Needless to say, my reputation took a beating. Some of my dealer "friends" (that I'd known for years) pounced on the rumor. Even many of my best customers avoided me like the plague and transmitted the rumors about me without ever calling me so that I could tell them the straight story.

Fast forward two years...It was Thanksgiving night, our guests were gone, the dishes were done and I was pretty hyped up because I was leaving the next day to buy a massive deal (complete runs, all brands and sports, of sets from 1933 to 1975). I was up late sniffing around Ebay and low and behold the 1915 Cracker Jack Matty had been listed on Ebay. Obviously I didn't get a wink of sleep for the rest of the night. The next morning I still had to go get the collection that I'd been working on for the better part of a year. A close friend (a computer genius) of mine was able to do all kinds of intricate searches with nothing more to go on than the guy's Ebay user id. My friend was able to identify the person and (this is the scary part) his work history. The thief and would-be Ebay seller worked at the dealership that I took my car to have the GPS fixed. Keep in mind, the dealership was about 10 minutes from my house and I had, over the years, spent about $250k there. The dealership would not speak to me concerning the issue; I couldn't even get the attention of the law (local police or FBI). The police told me point blank "It's not like someone was hurt or killed, they're just Baseball cards". Even Ebay's fraud division wanted nothing to do with it; at the time I was a "Powerseller" that got regular phone calls from my Ebay representative; How's everything going? , How can Ebay better serve you? What improvements would you like to see, and (this is the funny...well not so funny given the situation) If there is anything we (Ebay) can do to help just let us know.....Ebay completely turned their backs on the situation, they wouldn't even pull down the listing!

Lucky for me there was a female officer who had just been promoted to detective, in the precinct that the car dealership was in, but was about a week to 10 days from taking maternity leave. The precinct didn't want to put her on any cases, even mine, that could stretch into her leave. I was spending a minimum of 1-2 hours a day at the precinct pleading my case, just trying to get someone to take notice, and one day the newly crowned female detective just happened to be walking by while I was explaining, for about the 50th time, and she took it on as her personal project.

To make a long story a little less long, less than a week later I had the cards back in my grubby hands. Even after all of this, I still could not get anyone to take legal action against the guy (police, FBI, or Ebay's fraud division; I'm sure they would have more pull with the FBI than me) nobody cared......again, their words not mine, they're just baseball cards.

The most irritating thing about the whole issue wasn't the stance that the police, FBI, Ebay, or even the dealership that the theft took place at it's that even now, years after the fact, only one person in the hobby that had something negative to say about me regarding the situation has apologized to me for talking trash without asking me about the whole thing.

Granted, most of this little story has nothing to do with, what I consider, the great leaps forward that law enforcement has taken on Ebay/internet crimes (the subject of this thread). However, when I saw this thread the whole grim story of the hassles I went through trying to get the law to take a stance came flooding back. I'm not a lawyer, I don't even play one on TV, so being stifled during the span of time of first seeing the card on Ebay until I had it back in my hand was one of the most stressful times of my adult life.


A little more beat up but still kicking,

Louis

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Posted By: nancy markell

HI I'M THE WHITE TRAILOR TRASH YOU'VE COMMENTED ABOUT. I WOULD LIKE TO LET YOU BASEMENT CARD FREAK DWELLERS IN ON A FEW THINGS. I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS INCIDENT. MY DAUGHTER SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN MENTIONED ON YOUR SITE OR ANYWHERE ELSE. THERE WILL BE NO UPDATED PHOTOS OF US IN PRISON BECAUSE IF I'M TYPING THIS I'M NOT IN PRISON NOW AM I? BY THE WAY WHEN JEREMY DID WHATEVER HE DID I WAS IN THE ICU AT BLESSING HOSPITAL IN QUINCY,IL. HAVING BRAIN DECOMPRESSION SURGERY. YOU CAN KISS MY BUTT AND GO BACK TO YOUR CARDS WHERE YOU OBVIOUSLY BELONG.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Nancy, "trailer" is spelled with an "e" at the end; but of course you knew that. Glad to see the brain surgery kind of worked.

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

Too Funny

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Posted By: fkw

Probation is a bitch aint it. What you get 5 years or a slap on the arm 3 years probation? Remember, no drinking!

Have you done your 100 hours of community service yet? Pay back the restitution?

Glad to see they gave you a good deal .... how long did you do at the county farm, 3 months?

Good to hear your hubby took the fall, someone needed to take care of the kids.

Im sure if you were out the whole time you would have googled your name a long time ago. Oh well, lesson learned hopefully.



PS, You may want to dump the guy, this is his 3rd time doing this sort of lowlife scam. Also consider changing your name back to Dow.

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Posted By: Cat

"HI I'M THE WHITE TRAILOR TRASH..."

I always appreciate it when people come to grips with their inner-self.

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Posted By: Josh

What slot do you live in? If this is really you and not a joke.... you are a real piece of work.. more like pure American White Trailer Trash...

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Posted By: Richard S. Simon

Scary thing is these people are allowed to drive cars and TO VOTE.

=

I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.
Unknown author
--
We made a promise. We swore we'd always remember.
No retreat baby, no surrender.
The Boss

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Posted By: jeffdrum

WHO TYPES IN ALL CAPS!

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Posted By: brock

You guys crack me up. I think we should make a special island for all these people to go to, so we have to never hear from them again.

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Posted By: Bilko G

"I WOULD LIKE TO LET YOU BASEMENT CARD FREAK DWELLERS"


LOL- IF YOU ONLY KNEW!! (YES, IM YELLING BACK, LOL)

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

<<WHO TYPES IN ALL CAPS!>>

Gizmette?

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Posted By: Bob Pomilla

We only live in the basement when severe weather threatens to knock down our rotting shacks.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Speak for yourself Bob...She nailed me dead to rights.

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Posted By: Paul S

"I WOULD LIKE TO LET YOU BASEMENT CARD FREAK DWELLERS"

It's true of me, and a compliment.

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Posted By: leon

I was waiting for the Giz correlation....KNEW IT WAS COMING...

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

You should really think about ending it if the proper manipulation of the shift key poses a challenge for you. That might be a little harsh, but COME ON!

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Posted By: Bob

"YOU CAN KISS MY BUTT"

Ugh, that's a horrible thought! I guess that is one way to press creases out of cards.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

That lady is the polar opposite of the "two smooth, flat boards" that Kevin S. recommends to flatten cards!

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Posted By: Chris Mc

Now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are.

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Posted By: DMcD

Looks like the Butt Decompression Surgery went haywire. Ay-Sus!! She is big enough to burn diesel.

Not very righteous, I suppose, to mock our fellow man and woman, but these Jerry Springer-style threads are so much FUN. Got your thievin', got your pro wrasslin' and your chicken fightin', got your trailor trash, ya even got your basement dwellers! If we're lucky maybe The Dorskind Group will weigh in with a nifty fast-and-loose Eighth Amendment interpretation. That would be the penultimate !

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Posted By: Steve

lol I almost spit out my coke when I saw Nancy's post!


WTG Nancy you tell em!


Steve

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Posted By: Nancy markell

I WILL TYPE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I CAN! YOU CAN MAKE FUN OF MY SURGERY, HUSBAND, AND EVERYTHING ELSE YOU LIKE. THE ONLY PROBLEM I'VE HAD WITH YOUR LITTLE MESSAGE BOARD IS THAT YOU INVOLVED MY CHILD. IT JUST MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE IDIOTS BECAUSE YOUR JUDGING ME AND DON'T EVEN KNOW ME. ALL YOU KNOW IS WHAT WAS ON THE NEWS OR IN THE PAPER. BY THE WAY I'M NOT ON PROBATION, NO FINE, NO COMMUNITY SERVICE, NO JAIL TIME. YES SLAP ON THE WRIST SUPERVISION! LOL. MAYBE THAT'S BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER HAD A CRIMINAL RECORD? I'M GLAD I DECIDED TO COME BACK TO THIS SITE AND SEE WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO SAY. OBVIOUSLY THE PERSON WHO INITALLY PUT THE THREAD TO THE FLICKR ACCOUNT DOESN'T HAVE THE GONADS TO RESPOND TO MY E-MAIL. THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED! I GUESS CARD COLLECTORS ARE LOWER THAN INITALLY THOUGHT. THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW HOW LOW ON THE FOOD CHAIN YOU ALL ARE. BY THE WAY "WHITE TRAILER TRASH" AND THE FAT REFERENCES PLEASE. YOU ALL NEED A LIFE. I GUESS IT'S PRETTY EASY TO SAY HURTFULL THINGS WHEN YOUR HIDING BEHIND YOUR COMPUTER. IT WOULDN'T EASILY BE SAID IF WE WERE FACE TO FACE. THEN I COULD COMMENT ON ALL YOUR FAULTS. BY THE WAY HOW DO I GET TO YOUR PICTURES SO I CAN MAKE ASSUMTIONS ABOUT YOU. I'M SURE I'D GET A LAUGH OUT OF THAT.