83-Year-Old Jewel Thief Sent Back To Jail For Violating Probation
INDIO (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a 83-year-old jewel thief has not given up her six-decades life of crime or love of bling.
Doris Marie Payne was taken into custody Thursday in Indio for violating the terms of her release.
Payne was ordered jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail at a court hearing at the Larson Justice Center.
Officials said she failed to report to a probation officer after she was released from jail in July.
After he ordered her to be remanded into custody, Payne told Judge Dale R. Wells that she "did nothing but follow everything (I was told)." She said there was "confusion" among authorities about her case and that she appeared in court in Los Angeles soon after she was released from Riverside County.
"Ma'am, that's why we're having a hearing," Wells said. He said Payne's record also showed many failures to appear in court.
Payne insisted through her attorney that she was confused about where she was to report for probation — Los Angeles or Riverside County.
Deputy District Attorney Anne-Marie Lofthouse said Payne's "illustrious criminal career dates back to the 1950s" and that the court "should have no belief or faith she will follow the court's orders."
Payne pleaded not guilty to the alleged violation, and a hearing was set for Oct. 2.
She was booked into the county jail in Indio.
In April, Payne pleaded guilty to one felony count each of burglary and grand theft for stealing a 3.5-carat, $22,500 ring last Oct. 21 from El Paseo
Jewelers. She was sentenced to four years in custody and was to serve half of the time in jail and the other half under supervision.
Payne met the criteria for early release due to prison overcrowding.
A probation report stated that an officer left Payne a message telling her to contact the probation department, and she failed to do so.
Payne's lengthy career as an international jewel thief was detailed in a 2013 documentary "The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne."
She had been out of prison for about three months and was living in a Riverside motel at the time of the Palm Desert ring theft.
Payne racked up thefts in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Santa Clara counties, and in other states.
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