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2 Men Sentenced for Swapping Real Diamonds with CZs
They targeted stores in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and New Jersey last year, prosecutors say.
Detroit—A federal judge in Michigan has sentenced two men who pleaded guilty to swapping real diamonds for cubic zirconia in stores across six states.
According to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Demetrius Eugene Woodson, 28, has been sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $89,000 in restitution.
His accomplice, Rosean Levell Rogers, will not return to prison, as he got credit for time served, but did receive two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay about $15,000 in restitution.
Both men had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States.
Court documents state that from May 2018 to September of that same year, Woodson and Rogers swapped real diamonds for cubic zirconia stones in several retail jewelry stores.
They did this by mounting the loose CZs on displays they had stolen and then taking them into a jewelry store.
Once inside, one of the two would ask a store employee to see a diamond while the other would distract the store clerk so they could swap out the real diamond with the CZ.
The court said Woodson and Rogers also stole gems by prying open display cases.
The pair were based out of Toledo, Ohio and targeted stores in six states—Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and New Jersey.
Police caught the two the same day they took $7,000 worth of diamonds from a Kentwood, Michigan, jewelry store.
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