A thief who stole earrings valued at over $760,000 and later swallowed them while being arrested is set to be sentenced in December after he was found guilty of grand theft and robbery, the state attorney's office for Florida's ninth judicial circuit announced.
Jaythan Gilder received the guilty verdict last week after a trial surrounding the theft of jewelry at a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando, Florida, the state attorney's office said.
According to the prosecutor's office, "In February 2025, Gilder posed as a representative negotiating a jewelry purchase on behalf of a professional basketball player."
Prosecutors say Gilder then grabbed and attempted to leave with $760,000 worth of merchandise and used "force" against an employee while trying to escape.
According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, Gilder also attempted to leave with a ring, which was slapped out of his possession and recovered at the scene of the robbery.
Gilder was later arrested, after which prosecutors say he "swallowed the stolen earrings in an attempt to conceal the evidence."
A video posted by the Orlando Police Department describing the crime said that while Florida Highway Patrol stopped Gilder, "they noticed items in his mouth he was attempting to swallow, which a body scan at the Washington County Jail later found to be foreign objects suspected to be the Tiffany's earrings."
Authorities "monitored" Gilder over a nearly two-week time period "before recovering the jewelry," prosecutors say.
"After the diamonds were expelled from his system, we were able to bring the diamonds to Tiffany's where they were cleaned and where their master jeweler looked at the inscription or serial numbers on the diamonds and confirmed they were the very diamonds that were stolen on the 26th [of February]," the police video added.
"This case involved not only a significant financial loss, but also the safety of employees who were confronted with violence while simply doing their jobs," state attorney Monique Worrell said in a statement. "This verdict sends a clear message that violence and theft will not be tolerated in our community."
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