Jewelry thief won’t serve prison time in diamond ring theft

By: The Associated Press

news@abc6.com

WESTERLY, R.I. – A jewelry thief whose crimes date back more than two decades won’t serve jail time for charges he stole a diamond ring from a Westerly shop.              

The Westerly Sun reports that 59-year-old Robert Petrino Sr., of Boston, turned himself in to Westerly police Wednesday on one count of larceny over $1,500.              

Court records show Petrino pleaded no contest to the charge on Thursday and received a suspended two-year prison sentence.              

Police say Petrino walked out of the store with the ring on Sept. 16.              

Petrino has been convicted of a jewelry theft in Connecticut in 1991.

He was also convicted of stealing two large diamonds worth nearly $80,000 in Kansas.

Records indicate he has been connected to thefts in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

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