Wilfredo Gonzalez-Cruz, Man Who Swallowed Stolen Ring, Gets 12-Day Sentence

Man Who Stole, Swallowed Diamond Ring Gets 12-Day Sentence

A home repairman who swallowed a diamond wedding ring he was trying to steal earlier this month has been sentenced to 12 days in prison.

Wilfredo Gonzalez-Cruz was performing repairs at a couple's home in Cicero, Illinois when the husband approached him and said that his wife's ring had gone missing. Gonzalez-Cruz had apparently stolen the ring and stashed it in his shoe.

The two men struggled for a moment, during which time the handyman got the ring out of his shoe and swallowed it, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Cicero police took Gonzalez-Cruz to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, where X-rays revealed that the ring was in his stomach, NBC Chicago reports (see photo). He was then locked in a rubber room with multiple bedpans and given medication to "force the ring's expulsion," according to Cicero town spokesman Ray Hanania.

Gonzalez-Cruz could have faced a sentence of up to three years for the felony theft charge. Instead, he was given a 12-day stint in prison, according to the Associated Press, with two years of additional probation.

The ring, meanwhile, was returned to the couple on August 8th, "after thorough cleaning," Hanania said.

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