CrimeDec 03, 2024
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Former Tiffany & Co. Factory Supervisor Sentenced for Stealing Precious Metals
A federal judge gave Benjamin Preacher 59 days in jail, plus 10 months of home confinement and two years of supervised release.
Boston—A former Tiffany & Co. factory supervisor accused of pocketing gold, platinum, and silver scrap from the facility will spend two months behind bars.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston announced Dec. 4 that 54-year-old Benjamin Preacher of North Attleboro, Massachusetts, has been sentenced to 59 days in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 30 months.
Preacher’s attorney, Michael DiStefano, said in email to National Jeweler that the sentence is a “full” and “fair” reflection of all the factors considered in criminal sentencing.
“Mr. Preacher’s personal history is exceptional. A proud military veteran, he has experienced the depths of homelessness and the gratification of eventually owning a home, which he has opened to many people in need of support and a place to stay,” DiStefano said.
“Additionally, the sentence accounts for the non-violent nature of the offense, the family and personal pressures he experienced at the time of the offense, and his lack of any prior interaction with the criminal justice system … Mr. Preacher is taking full responsibility for his conduct and looks forward to continuing to support his family.”
Preacher was arrested in March and pleaded guilty in June to one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods and one count of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions after being accused of stealing more than $1.7 million worth of precious metals scrap over a period of three years.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from 2018 until early 2024, Preacher worked as a manufacturing supervisor for a “Rhode Island facility operated by a company that sells luxury items, including jewelry made from gold, silver and platinum.”
A LinkedIn profile for Benjamin Preacher in North Attleboro lists him as a lean manufacturing supervisor at Tiffany & Co.’s facility in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
This is the factory that is home to the company’s holloware workshop that crafts, among many other things, the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
According to the affidavit filed at the time of Preacher’s arrest in March, on March 1, about 30 minutes into his shift, workplace security cameras caught Preacher palming a one-inch piece of white gold flat stock worth about $2,200.
When he left the factory that day, cameras recorded him placing his security badge holder on top of the exit X-ray machine, walking through, and then reaching back to grab his badge holder, where he presumably had stashed the gold.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston announced Dec. 4 that 54-year-old Benjamin Preacher of North Attleboro, Massachusetts, has been sentenced to 59 days in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 30 months.
Preacher’s attorney, Michael DiStefano, said in email to National Jeweler that the sentence is a “full” and “fair” reflection of all the factors considered in criminal sentencing.
“Mr. Preacher’s personal history is exceptional. A proud military veteran, he has experienced the depths of homelessness and the gratification of eventually owning a home, which he has opened to many people in need of support and a place to stay,” DiStefano said.
“Additionally, the sentence accounts for the non-violent nature of the offense, the family and personal pressures he experienced at the time of the offense, and his lack of any prior interaction with the criminal justice system … Mr. Preacher is taking full responsibility for his conduct and looks forward to continuing to support his family.”
Preacher was arrested in March and pleaded guilty in June to one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods and one count of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions after being accused of stealing more than $1.7 million worth of precious metals scrap over a period of three years.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from 2018 until early 2024, Preacher worked as a manufacturing supervisor for a “Rhode Island facility operated by a company that sells luxury items, including jewelry made from gold, silver and platinum.”
A LinkedIn profile for Benjamin Preacher in North Attleboro lists him as a lean manufacturing supervisor at Tiffany & Co.’s facility in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
This is the factory that is home to the company’s holloware workshop that crafts, among many other things, the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
According to the affidavit filed at the time of Preacher’s arrest in March, on March 1, about 30 minutes into his shift, workplace security cameras caught Preacher palming a one-inch piece of white gold flat stock worth about $2,200.
When he left the factory that day, cameras recorded him placing his security badge holder on top of the exit X-ray machine, walking through, and then reaching back to grab his badge holder, where he presumably had stashed the gold.
According to the affidavit, when his employer confronted him about the theft two weeks later, Preacher wrote and signed a statement that he had stolen the white gold flat stock, and had been stealing precious metals from the company and selling them to a gold buyer since 2018.
He also admitted his theft to the IRS, and law enforcement officials seized a bag of precious metal scraps from his home.
Between about March 2020 and March 2023, Preacher took precious metal scraps to a dealer in Canton, Massachusetts, once or twice a month and made more than $1 million.
He also sold gold, platinum, and silver to a different dealer in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, between May and November 2023, with those sales totaling $177,062, according to the affidavit.
In addition to two months in jail, Judge Kelley sentenced Preacher to 10 months of home confinement, 200 hours of community service, and two years of supervised release.
He also was ordered to forfeit approximately $1.3 million.
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