A jury has found a Houston man guilty of robbery and grand theft in connection with a jewelry heist at the Tiffany & Co. store inside Orlando's Mall at Millenia, a case that drew national attention after the suspect allegedly swallowed stolen diamond earrings while being pulled over hundreds of miles away. Jaythan Gilder now awaits sentencing following the conviction.
The theft happened on Feb. 26, 2025, when Gilder allegedly posed as a representative for an Orlando Magic player to gain entry to a private viewing area at the store, according to The New York Times. An employee managed to pull a $587,000 diamond ring away from him, but Gilder still fled with two pairs of diamond earrings, the Times reported. Orlando police have said he made off with $800,000 worth of luxury jewelry, while a later report from ClickOrlando put the haul at more than $760,000, including two pairs of earrings valued at $769,500.
Gilder's run did not last long. Florida Highway Patrol troopers stopped him during a traffic stop in Washington County days after the theft, and police said they noticed him trying to swallow items during the encounter, per the same ClickOrlando report. A scan at the Washington County Jail turned up what officials described as “foreign objects in his stomach,” according to NBC News.
Recovering the Swallowed Diamonds
What followed was a waiting game for investigators. Three of the four stolen Tiffany & Co. earrings, along with two other unidentified diamond earrings, were recovered on March 10, 2025, and the fourth turned up two days later on March 12, according to WFTV. Detectives then verified the serial numbers on the recovered earrings, confirming they matched the items taken from the Mall at Millenia store, the station reported.
ClickOrlando's account of the investigation adds that the store's master jeweler also confirmed the diamonds matched the serial numbers of the stolen pieces, giving investigators two separate layers of authentication before the case moved forward.
A Pattern Beyond Florida
Gilder's arrest also surfaced allegations tying him to jewelry theft elsewhere. NBC News reported that police linked him to a similar robbery at a Tiffany & Co. store in The Woodlands, Texas, in 2022. Separately, WSVN reported that Gilder was facing 48 separate charges in Colorado tied to allegations involving as much as $1 million in stolen goods, and that his Florida arrest could lead to extradition there.
Jury Delivers Its Verdict
More than a year and a half after the theft, a jury has now found Gilder guilty of robbery and grand theft in the Orlando case, according to ClickOrlando's report on the verdict. Sentencing has been scheduled for a later date, the outlet reported, though no date has been disclosed.
