The Tom Brady memorabilia market is hotter than ever, so it shouldn't be surprising that some people have tried to take advantage of it through illegal means.
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There was, of course, the man who stole two of Brady's Super Bowl jerseys while posing as a reporter. He ultimately returned them and Brady chose to not press criminal charges.
A New Jersey man will not be so fortunate, however. The FBI announced on Tuesday that Scott V. Spina, Jr. has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining and selling three Super Bowl rings in a scheme that saw him pose as a former Patriots player and claim that the rings were meant for Brady's relatives.
The scheme began in 2017, when the now-25-year-old Spina bought a Super Bowl LI ring from a player who had since left the Patriots. With it, Spina also obtained the information that players received on how to order slightly smaller Super Bowl rings for family and friends.
According to court documents, “Spina then called the Ring Company, fraudulently identified himself as [the former player], and started ordering three family and friend Super Bowl LI rings with the name ‘Brady’ engraved on each one, which he falsely represented were gifts for the baby of quarterback Tom Brady. 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.”
After one potential buyer became suspicious and backed out of an agreement to purchase the three fraudulent rings for $81,500, Spina turned around and sold them to an auction house for $100,000 in Nov. 2017. In Feb. 2018, one of the rings sold for $337,219 at auction.
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