http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/384491,CST-NWS-jewels14.articleWidow of cop wants her jewelry returned
PROPERTY CRIME | Says she didn't know it had been stolen from others
May 14, 2007
BY STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporter/swarmbir@suntimes.com
Marlene Rolecek wants back her stolen jewelry -- worth more than $100,000.
The jewelry was not stolen from her. It was stolen from unsuspecting salesmen targeted by a highly sophisticated theft ring, overseen by former Chicago Police chief of detectives William Hanhardt, now in prison.
In an unusual twist in the Hanhardt case, Rolecek, 75, filed court papers recently asking for 22 pieces of jewelry, including gems and watches, to be returned to her. The federal government seized the jewelry as evidence in 2000.
The items include a gold Rolex watch, a three-carat pearl-shaped pendant, and a diamond and ruby cocktail ring, court records show.
Rolecek's husband, Charles Rolecek, a onetime Chicago Police officer, bought the pieces over several years from Hanhardt's right-hand man in the jewelry theft ring, Joseph Basinski, according to court records.
Charles Rolecek died in 2004.
Marlene Rolecek did not return phone messages but said in court papers neither she nor her husband had any idea the jewelry was stolen, so she deserves it back.
Federal prosecutors argue Marlene Rolecek knew full well her husband wasn't buying the baubles at Tiffany.
Prosecutors point to her grand jury testimony in June 2000 as part of the investigation.
Rolecek said she didn't question where the jewelry was coming from or how her husband afforded it.
Charles Rolecek bought jewelry from Basinski for as little as one fourth its appraised value.
"My husband says mind your own business. It's a gift. It's a gift for you. And that was it. And if I wanted more gifts, I shut my mouth," Rolecek said, according to the grand jury transcript.
Now, it's up to a judge to decide if she gets the jewelry back.
Ok, so I read this as she is very materialistic. Got a lot of jewelry that she didnt' ask too many questions about becuase she really wanted it regardless of whether it was right or not. Now she says that because she never was specifically told it was stolen that it makes it hers?
I don't understand how she thinks that she is entitled to this stuff and I don't understand what makes people so materialistic to think that way in the first place.
What's shiny stuff vs being honest and true anyway? Is this what we've come to as a society?
Is there something I'm missing here?
