An 83-year-old international jewel thief who was arrested in 2011 for reportedly stealing jewelry from a store in Santa Monica pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to four years in custody on April 28 for nabbing a 3.5-carat diamond ring from store in Palm Desert, it was reported.
Doris Marie Payne, who made a name for herself as a jewel thief in the United States and Europe, will spend two years in jail and another two years under court supervision, according to news reports.
Payne had reportedly slipped a 3.5-carat diamond ring valued at $22,500 from a jewelry store in Palm Desert in October 2013; she was later arrested.
The ring theft in Palm Desert and subsequent sentencing follows Payne pleading no contest in June 2011 to stealing a $16,000 ring from a Santa Monica jewelry store. Payne served a 16-month jail sentence concurrently with a five-year sentence a San Diego County judge handed down in January 2011. According to news reports, Payne was convicted of snatching a $8,900 ring from a San Diego area Macy’s five months before conviction in Santa Monica.
Other reported jewelry store heists occurred in San Diego and Las Vegas as well as in Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. International heists reportedly occurred in England, France, Germany, and Switzerland.
According to the Internet Movie Database, a biopic on Doris Payne’s life, entitled Who Is Doris Payne?, has been in development since September 2006. Some news reports have associated Halle Berry with playing the titular role.
The Internet Movie Database lists Eunetta T. Boone, known for her work on the television sitcom Living Single, as the writer for Who Is Doris Payne?
A documentary called The Life and Times of Doris Payne released in 2013 and has been traveling the film festival circuit. According to the film, Payne stole more than $2 million in jewels over the course of a 60-some year career.
According to public records and inmate information, Payne was born Oct. 10, 1930. She is 5-feet-5 and 150 pounds.
When she was arrested in Palm Desert on Oct. 29, 2013, she was booked at the Indio Jail.
