Barry Sable: Jeweler charged with tax evasion

"We will continue to aggressively pursue unreported income," McCleary said. "We owe that to the majority of taxpayers, who pay their fair share on a yearly basis."

Sable, of Sixth and Locust Streets, is the latest of a group of Center City jewelers to face federal prosecution.

Last year, jewelers Nicholas Balestra Sr. and Nicholas Balestra Jr. and Matthew Monaco, one of their salesmen, pleaded guilty to violating tax and currency reporting laws. They were fined and sentenced to short periods of home confinement or probation.

Jeweler Robert Cott was sentenced by a federal judge in September to almost six years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy and receiving stolen property involving a "smash-and-grab" robbery ring that stole $2 million of luxury items from fellow jewelers in five states.

If convicted on the money-laundering charge, the most serious count on which he was indicted, Sable could face a prison term of 46 to 57 months, according to Stiles.

Two of the money-laundering counts involve incidents in July 1991 relating to the 3.75carat ring and the diamond stud earrings.

The indictment also details a third money-laundering count involving a $14,380 cash sale of a gold Rolex watch and diamond ring on July 15, 1992 - this time to an undercover agent, who allegedly told Sable that his money came from drug trafficking.

The indictment alleges that Sable and some of his workers targeted certain cash sales for skimming. These cash sales were written on "Abby slips" - a purported code Sable named after his bookkeeper. Once the cash was skimmed, the indictment continues, the Abby slips and the original inventory records for the jewelry were destroyed.

The cash from the skim was allegedly used to pay three unnamed Sable employees, who in turn omitted these payments from their personal tax returns. Stiles said none of Sable's employees were being charged "although we are aware that there are amended tax returns being filed."

Sable, who on billboards and radio ads portrays himself as "The Diamond Authority," has been under a cloud since December 1992, when IRS agents entered and searched his store on Jewelers' Row. The indictment is the latest of Sable's legal troubles. In August, three women who formerly worked for Sable sued him in federal court for sexual discrimination and harassment, saying he paid women employees less and regularly made inappropriate sexual comments to them. That case is scheduled for trial on May 3 before U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell.