A man described by law enforcement officials as the mastermind in a series of armed robberies of jewelry stores was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Haven to more than 21 years in prison.

Charles Kertesz, 37, who had addresses in Milford and Bridgeport, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for armed robberies at four jewelry stores. He pleaded guilty in February.

Kertesz was sentenced to an additional 18 months for violating terms of his supervised release for a prior federal conviction.

Officials said Kertesz committed armed robberies at a Hannoush jewelry store in Natick, Mass., on July 20, 2005; the South Windsor Lux Bond & Green on Feb. 1, 2006; the Betteridge jewelry store in Greenwich on Sept. 1, 2006; and the Glastonbury Lux Bond & Green on Sept. 21, 2006.

In the first two robberies, Kertesz disguised himself as a woman. During the second two, he wore a motorcycle helmet.

On Feb. 5, an accomplice admitted his role in the South Windsor and Natick robberies. Anthony Curral, of Ansonia, was sentenced in April to 70 months in prison.

Two other conspirators, Eric Ortiz and Ernesto Ortiz, pleaded guilty to charges related to their roles in the Greenwich robbery. They are awaiting sentencing.

The robbers got $260,000 worth of merchandise in the South Windsor robbery, $190,000 from Natick and $200,000 from Glastonbury. In the Greenwich robbery, Kertesz loaded $4.7 million worth of merchandise into a backpack, but dropped the backpack when a Greenwich police officer confronted him in front of the store.

Souce: Courant.com

By Michelle Graff

Austin, Texas—In yet another sign of tough economic times, a Texas-based jewelry television network announced it will cease operations in early August.

In a letter to the Texas Workforce Commission obtained by National Jeweler, Austin, Texas-based The Jewelry Channel Inc. stated that, “We plan to shut the company down permanently and terminate the employment of our entire workforce in 60 days,” around Aug. 4.

The Jewelry Channel employs about 106 people, according to the letter, which was signed by Jewelry Channel President Sri Burugapalli.

According to the Austin Business Journal, The Jewelry Channel, a 24/7 nationally broadcast direct-sales channel, launched on April 18, 2007.

Jaipur, India-based jewelry manufacturer VGL Group owns The Jewelry Channel, and the on-air retailer was slated to market and sell the company’s products, according to the Journal.

The Jewelry Channel’s Web site states, “The Jewelry Channel USA brings you the best-quality jewelry at the most competitive prices. We can do this because we’re part of one of the largest jewelers in the world with workshops in India, Thailand and China.”

When it went on-air in 2007, the Journal reported that VGL had high hopes for the network, aiming for it to employ about 700 people by 2012.

At the time the channel launched, VGL Senior Vice President Manoj Shrimali told the Journal his company chose Austin because it wanted to establish a U.S. channel in the Central Time Zone and because Austin was business friendly and had an educated workforce.

“Everyone in the U.S. wants to move to Austin,” he told the Journal. “Everything that our channel is about we can find here.”

Prior to starting The Jewelry Channel, VGL launched two other jewelry television networks in 2006, in the United Kingdom and Germany.

Source: National Jeweler Network