A Rawlins man who had lived in Mills was charged with taking jewelry valued at $38,000 from his ex-girlfriend and pawning it at a Casper area shop.

Robert Fleetwood heard the charges against him during his initial appearance in Natrona County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Receiving stolen property worth more than $1,000 is a felony punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment. Falsifying a statement about property to a pawnbroker is a misdemeanor.

Because of the felony charge, Fleetwood did not enter a plea. Circuit Court Judge Steven Brown set his bond a $3,000 cash or surety. He will have a preliminary hearing within several weeks to determine whether his case should be bound over to Natrona County District Court for trial.

The case began Aug. 4 when a woman reported that she noted five pieces of jewelry valued at $38,000, not counting its sentimental value, missing from her house, according to a Natrona County Sheriff's Deputy's affidavit filed with circuit court.

She suspected Fleetwood, with whom she had a relationship until recently. He would have known her electronic door access code and her work schedule. She ended the relationship on July 25 when she learned he tried to persuade her daughter to sell his prescription narcotics for him.

A sheriff's investigator searched a pawn shop database, and found seven jewelry items had been pawned at a local shop. The woman identified five of the rings as hers, and two rings probably belonging to her daughter.

On Aug. 18, sheriff's deputies and Mills police found Fleetwood, and he was arrested on an outstanding Mills warrant.

Fleetwood told sheriff's deputies he was in Natrona County to take care of some family errands. He also wanted to call his wife in Rawlins and tell her of his situation.

After being read his rights, Fleetwood told deputies he would only speak about the case if he had an attorney present. He was then booked into the county jail.

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