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Mooresville jewelry store owner sentenced after pleading guilty to theft

Lora Richards had been accused of selling customers fake diamond rings.

MOORESVILLE, Ind. — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is a previous report about the charges filed against Lora Richards.

A former Mooresville jewelry store owner pleaded guilty to 25 felony counts of theft after allegations she sold fake diamonds to customers.

Lora Richards used to own Mooresville jewelry store Iconic Brilliance. A judge sentenced her to 180 days in the Morgan County Jail, followed by 550 days of home detention and one year of probation.

Prosecutors filed 33 charges against Richards in May of 2019 related to ripping off customers with fake diamonds. In February 2019, Richards told 13News her diamond broker sold her fakes and she was unknowingly putting them into her jewelry.

Leah Doty, one of Richards' customers, said she had an engagement ring appraised at another store and found out 30 of the 33 diamonds in the ring were fake.

"I'm going to marry the person I love. And then to find out the most important gift of your life is fake, it's heartbreaking," Doty said.

Several others also made complaints on social media about items.

"I am devastated by it. I really am. It breaks my heart that I have hurt anyone," Richards said at the time.

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