N.J. Man Sentenced For Tom Brady Super Bowl Ring Fraud
A New Jersey man has been sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the 2017 Super Bowl ring scam per the Department Of Justice.
Scott V. Spina Jr. of Roseland, N.J. was sentenced on Monday (Aug. 29) in an Orange County, California court and ordered to pay back a former New England Patriots player, identified in court papers as “T.J.,” $63,000 in restitution.
The scam began back in 2017 when Spina purchased the 2016 Patriots Super Bowl ring, using a bad check, from T.J., who left the team. Spina then sold the ring for $63,000 to a “well-known broker of championship rings,” the DOJ said.
“When Spina obtained the player ring, he also received the information that allowed the former player to purchase Super Bowl rings for family and friends that are slightly smaller than the player rings,” according to the release.
Spina then called the company that made the rings, claimed to be the former player, and ordered three rings with “Brady” engraved on them saying that they were gifts to nephews of then-quarterback Tom Brady. He then tried to sell them to the Orange County broker who bought the ring. While the ring broker originally agreed to buy the three rings for $81,500 the buyer began to doubt Spina’s story and decided to back out of the deal, according to the DOJ.
Spina later sold them to an auction house for $100,000, and one of the rings was eventually sold for $337,219 at a February 2018 auction.
Spina pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft on February 1. In his plea agreement, Spina admitted that he defrauded the ring broker.
“He accepts responsibility for his actions,” Spina’s attorney Thomas Ambrosio, said Tuesday (Aug. 30), according to The New York Times. “He is disappointed in the fact that he has to go back to prison.”
Back in 2018, Spina was sentenced to 35 months in prison for committing wire fraud in an unrelated crime where he sold high-end sneakers, per the outlet.