California man pleads guilty in theft of Olympic gold medal
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California man received a jail sentence after admitting he stole an Olympic gold medal belonging to a member of the 2020 U.S. Women’s Volleyball Team.
Jordyn Poulter reported the medal stolen May 25 after the Olympian found her car broken into at a parking garage in Anaheim, police said.
Jordan Fernandez of Anaheim pleaded guilty to felony charges including burglary and unauthorized use of personal-identifying information, the Orange County Register reported Tuesday.
The judge sentenced Fernandez, 32, to 364 days in jail and three years of probation, court records show. The judge gave him credit for the 179 days he had already served and an additional 179 days for good conduct, leaving him with six additional days to serve behind bars to complete his sentence.
The plea deal was offered by the judge, rather than prosecutors, over the objection of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Register said.
Poulter was part of the team that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, after the games were delayed a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A month after the medal was stolen, employees of an Anaheim barbershop reported finding it inside a plastic bag discarded outside their business, police said. They handed it over to police, who returned it to Poulter.
