A former Mrs America was convicted of felony theft when she returned old clothing for refunds after switching the price tags.
Jennifer Kline, 51, of Wyzata, Minnesota was arrested in November 2015 and ultimately found guilty of stealing over $5,100 worth of clothing in a price tag switching scheme.
According to prosecutors, on November 5 and November 6, Kline purchased expensive brand name items at the Southdale Macy’s, charging a total of $5790.98 on her credit card.
She returned the items for a refund totaling $5,501.36 on November 11 and November 30.
Store employees noticed the clothing items were old and soiled. They notified the asset protection detective who called police.
The asset protection detective told police Kline had made previous fraudulent returns in the past.
Police executed a search at her home and recovered 24 previously purchased brand name clothing that she’d switched tags on and pretended to return.
Kline took her deception one step further by also switching the clothing labels in addition to the price tags.
During her trial, Kline blamed Macy’s lax return policy for her theft.
Macy’s has since changed their lifetime return policy to a one year window for returns.
She faces 5 years in prison when she is sentenced on October 18.
