The man in the mugshots was a mystery. People had no idea who they were really dealing with.
“He was really convincing”, said one Memphis woman who asked us not to show her face on television.
She added, “He would send you pictures and you get to choose what you want. He had prices on them.”
Leandre Barner persuaded people, like her, to hand over cash for what was supposed to be a big bargain.
“Everybody buying two and three cars, you paying a thousand, $1,100 for a car that’s a Lexus, expensive luxury cars, luxury SUVs,” she told WREG.
But that luxury for less turned out to be a lie, one of many the News Channel 3 investigators uncovered.
The woman never got her Infiniti QX80.
And records show, Barner wasn’t a licensed car dealer who had the hookup on cars being sold at auction.
He was a convicted felon who used an alias to elude victims and police.
Then WREG aired a series of stories revealing Barner’s true identity. That was in early 2019.
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By the summer of the same year, Barner had pleaded to eight counts of theft of property.
Each count represented a case, and a total of a dozen victims, from whom prosecutors say he stole more than $88,000.
“It was hurtful because he sitting here scamming all types of people,” the woman told WREG.
Barner served roughly five months behind bars, starting in August of 2019 and was released in January of 2020, and was then to serve nine years probation.
One of the several requirements was paying monthly restitution for each victim.
The woman showed WREG a letter from the District Attorney’s office outlining what was supposed to happen.
“It’s on here that we were supposed to start receiving our money by May 2, 2020. And we’ve received none,” she explained.
Neither have any of the other victims, WREG has learned.
Barner owes the woman $7500.
“It’s just frustrating, now that, at least, we would think that we had a team like the DA, the DA’s office to help us get the money, or try to force somebody to do something, put him back in jail or do something,” she said.
Jail is where Barner would end up briefly.
In September of 2020, prosecutors filed a petition to revoke his probation.
Besides not paying restitution Barner wasn’t reporting to his probation officer and when the officer went to the address listed for Barner, a for sale sign was in the yard.
Assistant District Attorney Kirby May is the prosecutor.
“We addressed the court with the probation officer and the judge issued a warrant for his arrest,” said May.
By this time, Barner was also facing a new indictment.
A Bartlett man accused Barner of ripping him off years earlier, but only discovered his real identity after seeing our stories. The case wasn’t taken to the grand jury until 2020.
Barner pleaded guilty in the spring of 2021, and the sentence ran concurrent with the others.
May says Barner agreed to comply with the terms of his probation, so the state withdrew it’s request for a revocation.
WREG asked, “He’s gotten out, he hasn’t been out a full nine months, hasn’t paid restitution, why’s he get probation again?”
May explained, “Well, a couple of factors, one is, again, it was a non-violent crime and again we’re still in the midst of the pandemic. But that’s one factor to consider, but the other factor is looking out for the victims. If the defendant remains in custody, the likelihood that the victims receive any restitution is quite remote.”
So, Barner was released, but his victims still haven’t been paid a dime.
Prosecutors filed another petition to revoke his probation last fall and there’s an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
The NewsChannel 3 Investigators learned Barner’s also facing charges in Mississippi after being accused of running the same scheme on an Olive Branch man in 2020.
The victim who’s still waiting on her $7500 said of the whole ordeal, “I would like my money back, number one, and then for him to serve some kind of time because I guess he think it’s a joke.”
If and when Barner is picked up, he has the right to a hearing. If a judge finds that he’s violated his probation again, he could have to serve all nine years in jail, rather than probation.
Prosecutors noted on court documents that if Barner violated again, it’s their position that he should serve the jail time.
The News Channel 3 Investigators reached out to Barner’s last attorney of record and he said he wasn’t currently representing him and wasn’t aware of the outstanding warrant. In reference to the previous probation violation, he said Barner had difficulty finding a job and couldn’t make restitution payments.
