A fence was caught selling thousands of pounds of stolen machinery on eBay after an undercover detective posed as a buyer and entered a successful bid in the online auction.
Ryan Bright was acting as receiver for a burglar who was targeting sheds and garages around East Devon but he was trapped after one of the victims spotted his stolen set of alloy wheels on the auction site.
He alerted the police who carried out a sting operation in which they bought a stolen piece of garden machinery for £275 and arranged to pick it up from Bright.
He offered the detective, who was using the cover name of Nigel, other stolen items and promised he would be getting new supplies of similar tools soon.
Bright was operating out of a friend's home in Exeter and no sooner had 'Nigel' left than colleagues arrived armed with a search warrant and recovered thousands of pounds worth of kit.
He claimed he had bought all the items from a mystery man in a white van who had pulled up next to him and his friend Jamie Channing as they were fixing a car in the road and offered them the cut price goods.
Bright, aged 27, of Langstone Drive, Exmouth, and Channing, aged 25, of Burnthouse Lane, Exeter, admitted eight charges of handling stolen goods.
Bright was jailed for 18 months and Channing was jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years and ordered to do 300 hours unpaid community work.
Judge Phillip Wassall told them:"These goods were being sold on eBay and the police did a thorough investigation including buying certain items, coming round and engaging in discussions which revealed your offending.
"Handling stolen goods is in many ways more serious than theft because without people to assist in the disposal of stolen items thieves would have nowhere to go."
Mr Gareth Evans, prosecuting, said £7,296 worth of power tools, garden machinery, mountain bikes and car parts were taken in a series of eight burglaries of outbuildings in February last year.
The burglaries were at Clyst St Mary, Woodbury, Exton, Lympstone, Whimple, Ottery St Mary and the Knowle Cross Cricket Club.
Many of the stolen items were found when police raided Channing's home in Exeter after one of the losers found their stolen items on eBay.
Mr Evans said:"A tilling machine which was up for sale on eBay came to the attention of the police and it was established the seller was Bright.
"An undercover officer contacted him and offered to buy the item for £200 but he refused and the police then bid for it successfully and arranged for payment and collection.
"The seller gave the name of Ryan and the officer, using the under cover name of Nigel went to pick it up. Bright said it belonged to his brother who was selling it because he was joining the army.
"The officer asked about a lawn mower and Bright said he had other items including a strimmer, chain saw and hedge trimmer and said he would have more items soon."
Mr Warren Robinson, for Bright, said Bright has found a job as a sous chef and has now settled down and is keen to be a good father to his young son.
He said he had been working on a car in the street when a man in a white van pulled up and offered him items at a very good price, which he could not resist.
Miss Mary McCarthy, defending Channing, said he did not have the know how to sell anything on eBay and had been drawn into the scheme out of naivety and immaturity.
He works as a self employed mechanic doing up cars and is due to become a father for the first time in the next week.
