Tennessee man accused of stealing $10,000 worth of sports card from store in Lexington

Jason Cates was indicted this week by a federal grand jury

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Tennessee man is accused of stealing $10,000 worth of sports cards from a store in Lexington and selling them over the internet, according to a federal indictment handed down Thursday in Lexington.

According to the indictment, 38-year old Jason Cates and another person, listed as an unindicted co-conspirator, drove from Knoxville, Tennessee to Lexington and on Sept. 23, 2021, burglarized Kentucky Roadshow Shop and stole about 1,000 sports cards.

The indictment alleges Cates and the other person took the stolen cards back to Knoxville, where Cates sold them online.

Cates had buyers send money to the co-conspirator’s PayPal account, according to the indictment.

Cates is accused of breaking-in to a sports card store in Cartersville, Georgia several times over a ten day period and stealing $200,000 worth of merchandise last October, according to court documents.  Police found stolen items in Cates’ apartment during a search, according to the indictment.

Cates is currently in jail in Georgia.  He’s scheduled to make his first court appearance in federal court in Lexington next month.