A New Jersey man was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday after he admitted to fraudulently obtaining three Super Bowl rings and selling them for a massive profit.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced in a press release that 25-year-old Scott Spina Jr. was sentenced to 36 months and ordered to pay $63,000 in restitution after he posed as a former New England Patriots player in order to purchase Super Bowl rings. Spina pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft on Feb. 1.
Spina launched an elaborate scheme in 2017 when he purchased a Super Bowl LI ring from a former Patriots player. He paid for the ring with at least one bad check and then sold it soon after to a well-known Orange County, CA championship ring broker for $63,000. When Spina purchased the ring, he managed to obtain information about how players can purchase rings for family members.
Spina used that information to come up with a plan to purchase the Super Bowl rings from a company called the Ring Company. He posed as the former player whom he purchased the original ring from. Spina managed to order three family and friends Super Bowl LI rings with “Brady” engraved on them by claiming they were gifts for Brady’s baby.
After he obtained the rings, Spina then contacted the Orange County broker and offered to sell him the three family Super Bowl rings. Spina told the broker the rings were gifts that Brady had given to his nephews. The broker agreed to purchase the three rings for $81,500 but backed out when he became skeptical of the backstory.
The same day the broker backed out, Spina sold all three rings to an auction house for $100,000. One of the rings was later sold during a February 2018 auction for $337,219.
We have heard many stories over the years about counterfeit memorabilia being sold. Spina’s story was a lot more unique, and it is one he will be able to think about in prison for a long time.
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