In the criminal enterprise business, there are some unwritten rules for fencing stolen items. Don't be public about selling stolen goods. Don't use addresses that can be traced back to the thief. And don't put up stolen goods on online auction sites where victims can search for lost items.

Homer Police allege two Homer brothers missed that lesson when they stole expensive aviation headsets and put them up for sale on e-Bay, the popular online auction site. In Homer District Court last week, the Kenai District Attorney's office filed documents charging Lars A. Peterson, 29, and Leif E. Peterson, 31, each with five counts of second-degree theft by receiving, a class C felony, and six counts of third-degree theft by receiving, a misdemeanor. The Petersons also were charged with unlawful possession for having in their home a Homer News vending machine reported stolen from Anchor Point in 2004.

The charges date back to March 2003 when pilots and aircraft owners reported numerous thefts of aviation headsets from planes and helicopters at the Homer Airport. Homer Police Chief Mark Robl, a pilot himself, said most of the headsets stolen were high-quality David Clark brand headsets worth between $300 and $900.

Police made a break in the case when one victim reported seeing a stolen headset for sale on e-Bay. The online auction site allows customers to search for items by brand name, and descriptions often include photographs of the item for sale.

"That's what drew our attention to the suspects and focused our investigation," Robl said.

In charging documents, police allege that 18 headsets were stolen from various aircraft and 15 headsets stolen from Maritime Helicopters, for 33 total stolen over a year. Seventeen headsets were for sale on e-Bay by a vendor with the account name "aviationcom." Three e-Bay customers who bought headsets returned four headsets to Homer Police that were positively identified as stolen. Other headsets offered by aviationcom matched the description of the stolen Maritime Helicopter headsets.

Robl said police contacted e-Bay security, and that e-Bay cooperated with the police investigation. Police contacted buyers of the alleged stolen headsets and told them they had purchased stolen property.

According to charging documents, police identified aviationcom as being registered to "Bushblade" at an Anchor Point P.O. Box and to the Peterson brothers. Police said the Petersons also used other e-Bay accounts with the names of "sellerman4u," "troublex," "the bushblade," "brovobrovocharlie" and "aknew."

Police served warrants on Leif Peterson's Homer home in March 2004 and found headsets of the same make and model as some reported stolen. Police allege one headset had the name of a victim etched on the headsets. Police allege e-Bay photos of some headsets offered for sale by the Petersons originated from Leif Peterson's home. Police said background material in the photos matched material at Leif Peterson's home.

While searching an outbuilding at Leif Peterson's home, police allege they found a Homer News vending machine reported stolen from the Anchor Point area. Robl said the machine had been tampered with.

Robl said the delay in charging the Petersons came about in discussions with federal officials over whether charges would be in U.S. courts. Police and state prosecutors eventually decided to prosecute in Alaska court.

As of last week, no warrants had been issued or arrests made of the Petersons.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michaelarmstrong.@homernews.com.