Ex-California state worker pleads guilty to stealing diamonds, jewelry while on the job
A former employee of the California State Controller’s Office pleaded guilty to three felony counts of grand theft in connection with the theft of diamonds and coins across several years, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office.
The Controller’s Office handles the state’s money, audits government agencies that use state funds, and safeguards unclaimed property.
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The DA said that the California Highway Patrol began an investigation when $300,000 worth of diamonds went missing from a mailroom at the Controller’s Office in Sacramento.
Video surveillance footage showed the employee take a package of diamonds to a room that had no video cameras and then return to the mail room, the DA said.
The employee then re-taped the package and returned it to the mail for delivery.
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When the CHP served a search warrant at the employee’s residence in Sacramento, officers found the diamonds, along with other coins and jewelry.
The CHP and the Controller’s Office were able to trace the coins and jewelry to ten other victims, with the jewelry having been stolen over seven years, the DA said.
The former employee, who worked in the mailroom of the Controller’s Office for more than a decade, will be sentenced to three years and four months in early April, the DA said.
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