ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — The owner of Ninja Electronics will be sentenced later this year after pleading guilty to fraud charges.
Monday, Channel 11 spoke with 36-year-old Milton Barr in his downtown Pittsburgh store.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Barr recently plead guilty to fraud charges. He used drug addicts to shoplift items from local drug and grocery stores and retail chains.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” one neighbor told Channel 11.
In turn, the addicts would bring those items to one of his stores, where Ninja employees would purchase the stolen goods for a fraction of their original price.
According to the indictment, Barr sold the items for their full retail value on websites like Amazon and ship them to customers throughout the United States.
People who shop at Ninja Electronics told Channel 11 they aren’t shocked by the fraud and money laundering charges.
“For him to go and get addicts knowing they are willing to do it for money is ridiculous,” another neighbor said.
11 News went into the downtown location where we found Barr. We asked him for comment, which he declined and then asked reporter Sarafina James if she had any electronic needs.
Court paperwork states that Barr received more than $500,000 in payments to one of his bank accounts from Amazon.
For the wire fraud count charge alone, Barr could face up to 20 years behind bars.
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