It will have taken almost seven years, but the baseball memorabilia purchased by a New Jersey man with with money obtained from stolen prescription drugs is about to be sold.
Drug store owner William Stracher was arrested in 2007 after prosecutors say he took samples from a pharmaceutical rep and sold them in his store.
Now, his six figure collection of autographs, tobacco cards and hundreds of other items, are going to be sold at auction. The sales rep was also arrested. Luther Manning pleaded guilty and according to the Bergen Record, was sentenced to one year of probation.
“These are men who made millions by duping manufacturers and ultimately the consumer,” Bergen County District Attorney John Molinelli told reporters when Stracher was arrested.
The county will sell off the items in a May 1 auction in Mahwah, NJ. The process took awhile because some of what Stracher owned was the subject of a court case that involved Stracher’s auction house consignments.
It’s expected when all is said and done, the confiscated items will bring in more than $100,000—maybe a lot more–for the prosecutor’s seized assets fund.
Don’t look for PSA or JSA authentication on the autographed items over to Drew Max after watching an old episode of Pawn Stars.
A list of the items hasn’t been prepared yet, but you can read more about the case and the auction here.
Update: On Friday, NorthJersey.com reported that most of the autographed memorabilia would be destroyed.
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