Mary Jones Smith, 57, is charged with aggregate theft. In December 2011, a woman reported to police that jewelry had been missing from her home and she believed that her housekeeper Smith may be the culprit. Police say they found the woman's ring through a pawn shop database and discovered it had been pawned by Smith at a Houston pawn shop in December. The pawn shop owner identified Smith through a photo array as the one who pawned the ring, according to police.
Investigators say Smith confessed to stealing jewelry from the victim for about two years. The woman said she was missing more than $176,000 worth of jewelry during the time Smith had access to her home.
According to court documents, police say Smith admitted to stealing jewelry from eight other clients, whom she worked for going back as far as 1990.
Investigators say they discovered Smith made 35 jewelry transactions at pawn shops since January 2009. Items allegedly stolen included bracelets, earrings, rings, a gold broach, a Rolex watch, World War II memorabilia, and stamps with a total value of more than $310,000.
Court documents state two of the victims were fighting cancer during the time that Smith was stealing from them.
Bond has been set at $500,000.
