GREENSBURG, Pa. -- Paul Ucman, the estranged husband of 84 Lumber millionaire Joe Hardy's ex-wife, reported to Westmoreland County Prison on Monday morning to begin serving time for stealing millions of dollars worth of jewelry from Debbie Hardy's Rostraver Township mansion.
WTAE Channel 4's news exchange partners at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
reported that Ucman was sentenced last month for his conviction on a felony theft charge and a related misdemeanor offense of receiving stolen property. He was accused of taking jewels from a bedroom vault in Debra Hardy's home in 2007 and using them as leverage to get a boat and other valuables.
Ucman's minimum sentence from Westmoreland County Judge Richard McCormick was 364 days in jail. The full sentence was one year less a day to two years less a day. Ucman will be eligible for work release and must get alcohol and anger management treatment.
Items taken from Debbie Hardy's home included a $355,000 engagement ring and some diamond necklaces, according to the police report. All have been returned, but an expensive, handmade Louis Vuitton bag -- one of only a few in existence -- remains missing.
At Ucman's preliminary hearing in November 2007, Debbie Hardy testified that she and her husband were the only ones who knew the security codes to get to the diamonds.
Hardy and Ucman have been estranged for the past few years. They're still married, but Ucman's defense attorney, James Jeffries, said a divorce is pending. Hardy attended the sentencing hearing on Thursday.
Jeffries told the Trib that Ucman still says he's innocent, despite the judge's verdict, and that an unknown person delivered the jewels to the father of Ucman's first wife and told him to give them back to Hardy.
Hardy told Channel 4 Action News that she filed for divorce in 2007 but Ucman didn't sign the papers.
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