A Romanian woman has been convicted of jewelry fraud following the arrest in Palm Desert

PALM DESERT, CA – A Romanian national identified by the FBI as part of an organized crime group has pleaded guilty to a theft charge stemming from her arrest in Palm Desert for allegedly stealing a man’s necklace.

Marcideza Dumitru was immediately sentenced to 24 months’ probation after entering a guilty plea Friday to a misdemeanor charge of grand theft of another’s property at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, records show.

Dumitru’s sentence includes serving 116 days in a work-release program, as well as $5,500 in restitution to the victim, according to Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney’s office.

On June 3, officers at the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station were contacted by a man who claimed his chain had been stolen in the 34000 block of Monterey Avenue, according to a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The man said a woman asked him for directions to the highway. After doing so, “as an alleged token of her appreciation for his assistance, she placed a chain around his neck and, without him initially noticing, replaced his chain with costume jewelry,” officials said.

The suspect got into a car and fled.

Officers from the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station located the vehicle an hour later near the intersection of Alessandro Boulevard and Perris Boulevard in Moreno Valley. Dumitru was located and arrested on suspicion of grand theft, the statement said.

It was later discovered that the FBI had identified Dumitru as part of a transnational organized crime group.

Dumitru was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning and held in lieu of $10,000 bail. She posted bail two days later.