True Crime Thursday – Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings

By Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

7-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady

 

Hey, psst! Wanna buy a Tom Brady Super Bowl ring?

The sports memorabilia market is estimated at $12.2 billion for 2021 with 15% annual growth anticipated for the next decade.

Collectibles don’t get much bigger than Tom Brady Super Bowl rings.

 

 

Scott V. Spina, 25, of Roseland, NJ, figured out a slippery way to cash in on that market. In 2017, he purchased a Super Bowl LI ring and memorabilia from a former Patriots’ player identified as “TJ.” Spina paid with a bad check and immediately sold the ring for $63,000 to a broker of championship rings in Orange County, CA. “TJ” was out of luck–no ring and no money.

Along with the ring, Spina had received information that allowed additional, smaller rings to be purchased for family members and friends of players.

Spina then contacted the Ring Company and claimed to be the player he’d purchased the ring from. He ordered additional rings engraved with the name “Brady” that were supposedly gifts for Brady’s baby.

Next, Spina went back to the Orange County broker and made an agreement to sell him three rings engraved with the “Brady” name, supposedly obtained from Brady’s nephews, for $81,500, nearly three times what Spina paid for the rings.

The broker became suspicious of the nephew story and withdrew from the deal. That probably didn’t bother Spina because, on November 17, 2017, the same day he took delivery of the “nephew” rings, he sold them to an auction house for $100,000. Three months later, one of the family rings was sold at auction for $337,219.

The FBI Art Crime Team investigated and Spina was charged with one count of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

On August 29, 2022, Spina was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $63,000 to “TJ,” the former Patriot player he bilked out of the original ring.

 

Risky plays can lead to being sacked.

 

 

 

~~~

 

In Stalking Midas, when investigator Tawny Lindholm uncovers fraud, a glamorous predator stalks her, ready to commit murder to protect her scam.

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This entry was posted in #truecrimethursday, Tom Brady, Writing and tagged , by Debbie Burke. Bookmark the permalink.

About Debbie Burke

Debbie writes the Tawny Lindholm series, Montana thrillers infused with psychological suspense. Her books have won the Kindle Scout contest, the Zebulon Award, and were finalists for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and BestThrillers.com. Her articles received journalism awards in international publications. She is a founding member of Authors of the Flathead and helps to plan the annual Flathead River Writers Conference in Kalispell, Montana. Her greatest joy is mentoring young writers. http://www.debbieburkewriter.com

24 thoughts on “True Crime Thursday – Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings

    • Thanks, Patricia, they’re fun to research.

      I wondered the same thing. The rings were made by the official ring company so they are genuine rather than counterfeits made by a forger. But Spina impersonated a real player to obtain them under false pretenses and claimed they were gifts related to the Brady family when they were not.

      Under such circumstances, I’m not sure how they could be authenticated.

      Any experts out there, please feel free to chime in.

  1. Thought-proving post, Debbie. The first thing that popped in my mind was caveat emptor. How anyone would spend that amount of money over the internet without physical, third party verification escapes me. Enjoy your day.

  2. Good morning, Debbie

    I second Patricia’s motion – Your true crime reports/stories are always very interesting. It amazes me how much effort is put into pulling off the crime. Too bad we couldn’t put all those “creatives” into a Spartan prison where they were sentenced to invent ways to improve life for everyone. Invent or starve.

    Of course, we here at TKZ should own the patents to all their inventions, since it was our idea in the first place.

    Have a crime-free Thursday!

  3. Wow, what a story, Debbie. The crook saw an opportunity and ran with it. Unlike, say a counterfeit of a rare coin or rare stamp, it would have been hard for the auction house to realize he was a criminal, since the rings were legit. Fortunately justice caught up with him in the end.

    Thanks for another fascinating true-crime post! Have a great Thursday.

  4. The first mistake was the buyer thinking Brady would part with his Superbowl rings. With his ego, I doubt it, divorce or no divorce. Do I sound bitter? Maybe a little. 😉 Brady bilked the pandemic fund out of 900K for his TB12 business, robbing smaller Boston businesses of staying open. That’s when I lost all respect for him. Well, that and when he “retired” the last time, he thanked all his Tampa Bay fans and never once mentioned his New England fans (like me) who’d been cheering him on for 20 years. Not cool.

  5. I’m always astounded at the creativity of some criminals. If only we could harness that talent in honest endeavors.

    I also look forward to your True Crime Thursdays, Debbie. You come up with some fascinating stories.

  6. Love this post! Thanks Debbie. I would certainly LOVE to know Gisele Bunchen’s (sp) version of Tom Terrific. The wives know everything.

    And, speaking about scammy quarterbacks, how about Brett Farve siphoning millions off a Louisiana charitable fund? “heroes” with clay feet. bleh.

    PS: Is there a tweet button?

    • Thanks, Ruth. Scammy surfaces everywhere there are humans, sigh.

      The Tweet button is at the bottom of the post before the bio and comments section. Appreciate your retweets!

  7. Then there was the suspect who was put in a verbal-ID lineup. Each man was asked to step forward and say, “Give me your money or you die.” When it came to suspect, he refused. When the detective demanded to know why, he replied, “Because that’s not what I said.”

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