Falls Man Charged with Stealing Thousands of Dollars in Jewelry from Penney's

A 27-year-old Menomonee Falls man is facing felony charges for stealing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry while employed at an area department store.

Christopher R. Giacoletto was charged in Waukesha County circuit Court Monday with one count of theft of a business setting for allegedly stealing jewelry from, N96W18515 County Line Rd., and then pawning it at area jewelry stores. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

Giacoletto was employed at JC Penney’s for about nine months in 2010 and during that time he stole various pieces of jewelry in order to pawn them at jewelry stores for money. Officers were called to the attention of the thefts after one of the stores contacted authorities because Giacoletto came in and pawned items similar to others he had recently sold to the store.

Surveillance cameras at the department store also filmed Giacoletto stealing the merchandise and when confronted by a store security guard admitted to stealing about $10,000 in merchandise. He later told investigators he stole between $5,000 and $7,000 worth of items.

Officers requested an itemized list of all stolen merchandise, which showed 35 items valued at $40,003.

Giacoletto told police he stole the items in order to pay off old drug debts, medical bills, cash advances and other financial debts.