Crime

Former Jeweler Gets up to 10 Years in Prison for Larceny

CrimeMay 17, 2018

Former Jeweler Gets up to 10 Years in Prison for Larceny

In a jewelry crime case out of Michigan, Rick Currie pleaded guilty in March to stealing jewelry from more than 150 customers.

Port Huron, Mich.--A former jeweler has been sentenced to two to 10 years in prison for larceny by conversion after failing to return jewelry belonging to more than 150 of his customers.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael West handed down the sentence to 62-year-old Rick Currie Wednesday.

Currie pleaded guilty to the jewelry crime in March, copping to six counts of larceny by conversion of more than $20,000.

He was wanted by the Port Huron Police Department earlier this year after being evicted for failure to pay rent at his now-closed store, Rick Currie Master Goldsmiths, and then not returning the jewelry that customers had left in his possession.

He was arrested in early February near Jasper, Florida, and returned to St. Clair County.

Police said at the time of his arrest that the vehicle he was in contained a large amount of stolen jewelry.

As part of his guilty plea, Currie agreed to make restitution to the victims in a manner to be decided by the county.

According to the Times Herald, he had asked the judge for leniency, saying he wanted to begin making that restitution possible for the families whose items had not been recovered or were so altered as to be unrecoverable, but the judge told him he would have to serve a prison sentence first.

Port Huron police have said that many of the items involved have been identified, but there still are items worth at least $100,000 that aren’t recoverable.

Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.

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