(WASHINGTON) — A New Jersey man posed as a New England Patriots player to fraudulently obtain family Super Bowl LI rings, intended to be purchased by family members of Patriots players, the Justice Department said.
The New England Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit with the Atlanta Falcons to win the 2017 Super Bowl, in what court documents say was considered one of the greatest comebacks ever.
After the game, players received Super Bowl rings — and Scott Spina Jr. wanted to buy one of the rings family members could get, prosecutors said. He contacted a member of the team and gave him a check which, court documents said, Spina knew he didn’t have enough money in his account to cover.
Spina pleaded guilty on Monday, according to the Justice Department.
As a result of obtaining the ring, he allegedly got login information from the ring company to purchase more “family rings” — designed for family and friends of players of the winning team.
Spina allegedly called the ring company, presented himself as the former player he bought the rings from and asked if he could purchase more.
“I want to get uh the quarterback a present for his baby…for the son,” Spina told a representative of the ring company, according to court documents.
The quarterback he referred to is seven-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, prosecutors said.
The rings had Brady’s name on them and Spina confirmed that he wanted the quarterback’s name on it with the ring company, prosecutors said.
The Justice Department suggested that because Brady’s name was on the rings, they were worth more when Spina resold them.
The rings were a bit smaller than the Super Bowl rings players received.
Spina flipped the rings and made $100,000 on selling the rings before they were sold at auction for over $330,000, prosecutors said.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
