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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A New Jersey man has been sentenced to three years in prison for fraudulently obtaining and selling three Tom Brady Super Bowl rings, according to the U.S. District Attorney of California.
Scott Spina Jr. of Roseland, Jersey pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft for a scheme that saw him pose as a former Patriots player to fraudulently acquire three family versions of the team's 2016 Super Bowl ring. Spina claimed the rings were gifts for relatives of Tom Brady and then sold the rings in multiple auctions.
Prosecutors said Spina's scheme began in 2017 when he bought a Super Bowl LI ring from a former Patriots player, who was not identified. Spina sold that ring, after paying for it using at least one bad check, for $63,000 to a sports memorabilia broker.
During the process of buying the ring, Spina learned that the former player was able to buy smaller replica versions of Super Bowl rings as gifts for friends and family. Spina then called the ring company claiming to be the former player and ordered three of the friends and family rings with the name 'Brady' engraved on them as gifts for Brady's family, according to court documents.
“The rings were at no time authorized by Tom Brady. Defendant Spina intended to obtain the three rings by fraud and to sell them at a substantial profit,” according to the criminal complaint.
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Spina then tried to sell the three rings to the same person who bought his original Super Bowl ring and claimed Brady bought the rings to give to his nephews. The buyer agreed to buy the rings for $81,500, which was nearly three times what Spina paid for them, but eventually backed out of the deal when he became skeptical of their authenticity.
After the original buyer backed out, Spina sold the rings to an auction house for $100,000 in November of 2017. The rings then sold for $337,219 at an auction in February 2018.
In addition to the three years in prison, Spina owes the former Patriots player he bought the original ring for $63,000.
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