Trading card thief sentenced
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, May 19, 2026
An Auburn man who stole packs of Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards from Walmart in Oak Harbor two years ago was sentenced to jail, according to court documents.
Michael H. Brown, 37, pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court to retail theft with special circumstances in the third degree, a felony charge.
Judge Christon Skinner sentenced Brown to three months in jail. Court documents show that Brown has a lengthy criminal history, including burglary, identity theft, attempted delivery of a controlled substance and eight counts of theft in the third degree in different cases.
Prior to the sentencing, judges issued arrest warrants in the case four times after Brown didn’t appear for court dates. The bonds ranged from $5,000 to $50,000 — unusually high amounts for a Yu-Gi-Oh! theft case.
In the recent case, a deputy with the Island County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a theft at the Oak Harbor Walmart on the afternoon of March 16, 2024. A supervisor informed the deputy that a man had grabbed the arm of an employee in an aggressive manner.
Video security footage from Walmart showed the man, later identified as Brown, taking several boxes of cards and placing them into a cart before being approached by the employee that he grabbed, the report states. The shoplifted items included 15 packs of Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards and 24 packs of card sleeves totaling $407.
Later, the man returned to Walmart. The deputy confronted him while he was in the store; Brown’s cart contained more packs of Yu-Gi-Oh! packs and an Xbox Live card. Brown was arrested and escorted from the store.
