LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a member-supported public media network. Hear our news on-air at our partner site:
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Doris Payne, the 80-year-old jewel thief charged with stealing a $16,000 ring from a Santa Monica store in October, pleaded no contest and has been sentenced to 16 months in prison, according to ABC Local.
The career heister and fascinating subject of Halle Berry's upcoming feature Who Is Doris Payne?, will serve this sentence concurrently with the five-year prison term she is already serving for a theft in San Diego County.
Domestically, Payne's sticky fingers have touched California, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Kentucky and Colorado. Internationally, the five-decade criminal has had her way with Greece, France, England and Switzerland, according to an in-depth Associated Press story during her prison stint in 2005.
More recently, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Frank Brown sentenced Payne in February to the maximum five years saying, "[She] won't stop...That's the problem here... She's a thief. She's charming. Santa Claus' wife, that's who she is," notes to ABC News.