June 10, 2015

Topeka Jewelry Store Owner Pleads Guilty to Purchasing Stolen Jewelry

TOPEKA, KS—The owner of a Topeka jewelry store pleaded guilty Wednesday to knowingly buying jewelry that had been stolen in home invasions, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

John O. Dasher, 53, Silver Lake, Kan., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Topeka to one count of transporting stolen goods. In his plea, he admitted the crimes occurred from 2010 to 2013 while he owned The Diamond House, 1801 S.W. Gage in Topeka. He knowingly purchased stolen jewelry taken in home invasions.

Dasher paid a fraction of the actual value of the jewelry, which he melted down to form scrap gold. He mailed the gold scrap via the U.S. Postal Service to gold wholesalers Pop Gems International, Gold Empire and Coinex, Inc., in Los Angeles, Calif.

Sentencing will be set for a later date. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 12 months and a day followed by two years on supervised release and a forfeiture money judgment against Dasher of $130,000.

Grissom commended the Topeka Police Department, the FBI, the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag for their work on the case.