A man who used to work for the Queen of England has been jailed after he was caught stealing items from Buckingham Palace and selling them on eBay.
Adamo Canto, 37, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft between November 2019 and August 2020 in November, according to Yahoo! News. On Monday, he was sentenced to eight months in jail, BBC reports. His sentencing comes after he was charged with stealing items from Queen Elizabeth’s royal residence and selling them online.
Yahoo! News reports that Canto stole a “significant quantity” of items, which police later found at his home in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Some of the things he swiped included signed official photos of Prince Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton. Also, Canto took a Companion of Bath medal that belonged to the Master of the Household, Vice Admiral Master Tony Johnstone-Burt.
Johnstone-Burt said he noticed the medal was gone when he went to wear it for Trooping the Colour, the outlet reports. He also stole a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order medal from the locker of former British Army officer Maj Gen Richard Sykes. The medial was given to Sykes by the Queen in 2010.
On top of that, Canto stole a royal state banquet photo album of DonaldTrump when he visited the United Kingdom; the photo is worth $2,000. Canto stole a total of 77 items, all of which came from staff lockers, the Queen’s Gallery, and Prince Andrew’s storeroom. The cost of all the items was worth $13,000 and $135,000, according to Prosecutor Simon Maughan, who told the court that the items were sold online. Canto was able to sell 37 items on eBay for “well under” their actual value. Canto ended up pocketing $10,000 from the stolen items.
Because of Covid-19, Canto was given more access to the royal family’s offices and other secured areas as one of the few employees still working amid the pandemic.
