Tucson man sentenced for trafficking Terry Francona’s World Series rings
Aug 17, 2021, 4:45 AM
Jamey Estep (Arizona Attorney General's Office Photo)
(Arizona Attorney General's Office Photo)
PHOENIX — A Tucson man was sentenced to five years in prison for trafficking a total of six championship, All-Star and College Hall of Fame baseball rings, authorities said.
The Arizona Attorney General’s office announced that 35-year-old Jamey Estep stole the rings from the Tucson-area home of Major League Baseball manager and former player Terry Francona.
A Pima County Superior Court Judge sentenced Estep on Aug. 6 after he pled guilty to one count of trafficking in stolen property with a stipulated prison sentence of five years in the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, according to a press release.
Two MLB World Series rings, three MLB All-Star rings and one College Hall of Fame ring were stolen from Francona, who won the 2004 and 2007 World Series as the manager of the Boston Red Sox.
He also played baseball for the University of Arizona and led the Wildcats to the 1980 College World Series championship.
Pima County Sheriff’s Department detectives tracked the two World Series rings to a Phoenix-area memorabilia collector, who was trying to sell them and traced the rings back to Estep, officials said.
He initially denied possessing the rings when interviewed by detectives, but eventually claimed to have bought them from a friend for $400 and later sold them to the memorabilia collector in Phoenix, authorities said.
Estep worked with investigators through his attorney to recover the College Hall of Fame ring, but the three All-Star rings have not been found, officials said.
