DeLand, FL - A 39-year-old Deltona man, Mark Costantine, is charged with operating a DeLand pawn shop without a license. He was arrested on Wednesday (December 18) after detectives from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office Northwest Detectives Unit, Crime Suppression Team and Deltona Detectives Unit searched the #1 Gold Buyers shop, located at 209 S. Spring Garden Ave.
An investigation into DeLand-area burglaries, dating back to March 2019, brought #1 Gold Buyers under law enforcement's scrutiny. The investigation led detectives to believe that the pawnshop was being operated illegally.
Detectives found that the business has a weights and measures license because Costantine advised the state Department of Agriculture he is a second-hand dealer and no longer operates as a pawn shop. Signage at the shop indicates that the place is a pawnshop.
A check of the state's pawnshop database found the business has not uploaded any transactions since May 27, 2016. Pawnshops and second-hand dealers are required by state law to complete transaction forms when purchasing property and upload them to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office (VSO) server.
When the search warrant was executed on Wednesday, not one item in the shop had a completed pawn transaction form or receipt. Close to 200 pieces of property, $6,000 in cash and 34 guns were seized by detectives.
Costantine is charged with engaging in a pawnbroker business without a license. He was taken to Volusia County Jail but is now out on a $5,000 bond.
