Man accused of jewelry theft swallows diamond ring

A man in New York has been arrested for purchasing over $200,000 worth of jewelry using cloned credit cards. The 33-year-old Troy man was detained after buying a pair of diamond earrings and a Rolex watch from a store on Feb. 11. According to Ontario County Sheriff’s deputies, the man attempted to flee the scene when the credit card he was using was found to be an unauthorized copy of a stolen credit card account.

After hiding in snow banks near Eastview Mall, the man was located by deputies and taken into custody. Deputies say that the man was found to be in possession of other valuable pieces of jewelry that he had allegedly purchased around Central and Eastern New York with cloned credits cards. The accused man received a felony charge for grand larceny as well as charges for identity theft and forgery.

After he was arraigned for his charges at Canandaigua City Court, the man was moved to Ontario County Jail. He was not given the option of posting bail. Deputies say that at some point while the man was in custody, he swallowed a large diamond ring. The ring was recovered a few days later after it passed through his body.

A person who is facing charges similar to those in this case might work with an attorney to come up with possible defense strategies. An attorney may help to evaluate how strong the prosecution’s case is and advise the defendant about how to plead. It’s possible that a defendant could plead guilty to one charge while pleading innocent to another.

Source: 13WHAM, “Bizarre jewelry theft ends in big arrest,” Feb. 26, 2015