How a New Jersey male cheated a previous Patriots player for his Super Bowl ring

Scott Spina Jr. and his girlfriend boarded their flight residence to New Jersey from Ga with some important baggage: a championship ring from Super Bowl LI.

The ring, made of white gold molded into the form of a football and emblazoned with 283 diamonds, was engraved with the words “GREATEST COMEBACK At any time,” a nod to the New England Patriots’ historic 25-place comeback victory in excess of the Atlanta Falcons.

Spina experienced just published a test to a previous Patriots participant for the ring in September 2017. In all, the deal would be worthy of $32,000, but it was income Spina realized he didn’t have.

Following federal investigators uncovered the scheme, Spina pleaded responsible in February to 1 rely of mail fraud, a few counts of wire fraud and a single count of aggravated id theft. On Monday, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter sentenced Spina, 25, to 3 several years in jail and ordered him to shell out $63,000 in restitution to the former Patriots player.

The previous player, determined in courtroom data only as “T.J.,” was battling with his experienced soccer occupation when he sold the ring to Spina.

Drafted out of Florida State College in 2015, the offensive lineman was sidelined by a knee personal injury and did not engage in a one snap in his second period, watching as the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl in 2017. He was released from the team that April.

Without the need of an NFL contract, T.J. was traveling back again and forth among his dwelling in Jesup, Ga., and Boston, court docket files mentioned. He experienced tried out to sell the Super Bowl ring to a pawn store in Jesup but was turned down.

Then, in late September 2017, Spina despatched T.J. a concept on Instagram about the ring, indicating he was near good friends with rapper Fat Joe and sold sneakers to celebs.

The following working day, Spina flew to Georgia and satisfied T.J. outside a fuel station in Jesup. Spina wrote the poor check out, and T.J. handed in excess of his Tremendous Bowl ring, nonetheless inside of its black box, together with rings from his school football several years.

Spina took not only T.J.’s ring but also his identity. As element of the offer, prosecutors wrote in a plea arrangement, he obtained the player’s login qualifications for the ring manufacturer and went on to obtain three additional Tremendous Bowl rings, posing as the former Patriot.

“This is ‘T.J.’ — I’m gonna location a few of ring orders currently,” he claimed in excess of the telephone with the ring producing corporation. “I want to get, uh, a quarterback a present for his baby.”

“What’s the, the um, quarterback last name that you are seeking to order it for?” the enterprise staff reported.

“Brady,” Spina claimed, spelling it out to verify, “B-R-A-D-Y.”

Spina then designed a deal with a effectively-regarded collector of championship rings in Orange County, sending shots of the three rings and claiming they ended up requested by T.J. as presents for Brady’s nephews.

The Orange County gentleman agreed to pay out $81,000 for the a few rings and wired $6,500 to Spina as a deposit with the title, “Tom Brady Family members 2016 New England Patriots Super Bowl Rings!”

But the collector did some research and discovered out Brady didn’t have any nephews. In November 2017, he questioned Spina to terminate the deal.

That exact day, Spina, even now established to promote the rings, turned to an auction dwelling, in which he marketed the 3 rings for $100,000, declaring that Brady experienced licensed the authentic obtain of the rings.

1 of the rings would be auctioned off for additional than $300,000.

When T.J. understood his examine from Spina had bounced, he tried out messaging Spina but acquired no reaction. He gave up right after discovering Spina had been arrested and was in jail on other charges.

Authorities did not say who tipped off federal investigators about Spina’s plan. By December, Spina was charged in in federal court docket in California.

Spina’s protection attorney, Thomas Ambrosio, stated this calendar year that his shopper acknowledged responsibility for what he did and declined to comment even more.