A US Citizen has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after posing as a former New England Patriots player after he ordered Super Bowl rings with the name "Brady" engraved on them.
In February 2022, Scott V. Spina Jr pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
According to a news release from the US Attorney's Office in the Central District of California, Spina bought the ring and other memorabilia in 2017, from a former player and sold the ring for Ksh7.56 million ($63,000).
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According to the prosecutor, Spina went on to use the former player's information to order three rings with Tom Brady's last name on them.
The prosecutor added that Spina had informed the ring maker they were gifts for Brady's baby.
"Defendant Spina intended to obtain the three rings by fraud and to sell them at a substantial profit,” the court documents read.
It was reported that Spina had told a potential buyer in California that the rings were from Brady’s nephews, having made deposits in three instalments.
The said client agreed to buy the rings in three Ksh9.78 million ($81,500) instalments but backed out after having doubts.
As part of his plea agreement, Spina will pay $63,000 in restitution to the former player, who was not identified. Prosecutors said Spina "bilked the former player by paying for the ring with at least one bad check."
The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League (NFL) given to the team members of the winning team of the Super Bowl, the league's annual championship game.
The Super Bowl ring offers a collectable memento for the actual players and team members to keep for themselves to symbolize their victory.
The ring is also provided to the runners-up team of the Super Bowl. Teams that win the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC) are also awarded rings.
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