Monday, Dec. 6, 1999 | 10:51 a.m.
A 32-year-old woman described by a prosecutor as a "Southern belle" with a history of theft has agreed to a plea bargain on charges she stole a $4,000 diamond ring and tried to hide the evidence by swallowing it.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Mitchell said the deal calls for Lori Carroll to plead guilty to burglary and grand larceny when she is arraigned Dec. 13 in District Judge Donald Mosley's courtroom.
While both charges carry 1- to 10-year sentences, Mitchell said the district attorney's office also has the option of asking the judge to declare Carroll to be a habitual criminal.
That carries a mandatory 5- to 20-year prison term, requiring her to serve five years before eligibility for parole.
Mitchell said Carroll already has five felony convictions in Georgia and has used a string of aliases.
Carroll took the first step in the plea bargain Friday when she waived her preliminary hearing in Justice of the Peace Bill Jansen's courtroom.
Carroll is accused of going into M.J. Christensen Jewelers in the Forum Shops at Caesars Nov. 8. A clerk handed over the ring so she could look at it, she turned around and then the ring was gone, according to a police report.
Carroll denied she ever had the ring. Metro Police, after not being able to find the ring anywhere on her or in the store, suspected the ring was in her.
Carroll was taken to University Medical Center, and after a search warrant was signed, she was X-rayed, revealing she had swallowed the ring.
Ten days later she passed the ring at the Clark County Detention Center, according to Metro Lt. Mark Joseph.
"We went down and identified the ring. It still had our price tag on it," jewelry store manager Stuart Anderson said after the ring was recovered. "She swallowed the tag and everything."
Carroll originally was charged with burglary, grand larceny and -- of course -- possession of stolen property, police said.
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