Authorities busted a Democrat running for Congress in Wisconsin for allegedly conning a New York City jewelry store.
Juliet Germanotta, 36, of La Crosse, allegedly ordered a $4,800 ring from West 47th Street jewelry retailer Mikaelians Jewelry on September 19 but requested a refund from the Midtown jewelry store after she said the ring was not to her specifications, the New York Post reported.
Germanotta, who claimed on her Facebook page to be a “fiscally responsible” candidate who “questions expenses,” allegedly sent a decoy ring to the original retailer and attempted to sell the real one for a higher price at the Midtown jewelry store.
Mikaelians filed a complaint with the New York Police Department (NYPD) on October 2 after realizing that the returned ring was not real.
When Germanotta’s prospective buyer in Wisconsin took the ring to be checked out, the appraiser notified the Midtown Manhattan jewelry store, police said.
NYPD detectives caught up with Germanotta in Wisconsin, where she admitted to the crime, police said.
Germanotta was charged Tuesday as a fugitive in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, and agreed to waive extradition to New York—where she faces a felony count of grand larceny, the La Crosse Tribune reported.
Germanotta describes herself on her candidate Facebook page as a “proud transgender woman” and “ordained minister” with HIV. She is running as a Democrat in Wisconsin’s third congressional district in an attempt to unseat incumbent Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI).
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