Charlotte Tool King Owner Sent To Prison

CHARLOTTE, NC — A federal judge sentenced the owner of a Charlotte hardware store on Thursday to two and a half years in prison for selling stolen goods on an e-commerce site, including power tools and home electronics. Edwin R. Barkley, 63, of Charlotte pleaded guilty in March to interstate transportation of stolen goods, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte.

Court documents and testimony show that Barkley ran his business, Tool King USA, as a "fence," an operation that buys and sells stolen merchandise, say federal prosecutors.

Court records say that Barkley bought large-ticket items at a fraction of their retail value from a number of thieves, also known as "boosters," according to prosecutors. These items included power tools, vacuum cleaners, generators and home electronics.

He then "sold the stolen merchandise on an e-commerce platform at or near 90 percent of their retail value, and used the profits to pay for his daily living expenses," the statement added.

Barkley fenced stolen merchandise through Tool King, his Charlotte-based storefront business, from at least September 2015 to October 2018, prosecutors said. Detectives from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department worked with the U.S. Secret Service to break up the operation.

At Thursday's sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Frank Whitney said Barkley ran a “very sophisticated operation” and that “keeping fingerprints” off the stolen goods does not mean one is innocent, according to the statement.

Barkley is out on bond, "and will be ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility," the statement added. Federal prison sentences are served without the possibility of parole.