Sonoma man convicted of elder theft in consignment scam

Consignment store owner Dwayne Kershner, 53-years-old of Sonoma, pleaded no-contest today to two felony counts of elder theft and two felony counts of grand theft.

The charges resulted from elder victims taking their personal family possessions to the defendant’s consignment store in Sonoma and leaving them in his care to sell. He agreed to sell the items in return for a percentage of the proceeds.

The victims never received money for the items, nor were they able to get the items back when they repeatedly attempted to contact the defendant.

Further, the defendant wrote some of the victims checks when he had no funds in his bank account. Many of the victims reported their loss to the Sheriff’s Department when they returned to the store and it was closed and empty.

A subsequent investigation led to some of the items being returned to the owners. However, most of the victims’ items were destroyed or never recovered.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “This defendant took advantage of his position of trust with these victims. His actions were made more egregious by the fact that he targeted the elderly. Hopefully his felony convictions will send a message that this office will vigorously prosecute crimes perpetrated against vulnerable victims.”

The defendant is schedule for sentencing June 10.