Mequon Woman Accused of Stealing $92K in Jewelry Gets Additional Charge

After being charged in Ozaukee County for from friends in Grafton and Bayside, Jill E. Binon, 49, of Mequon is now charged with theft of property exceeding $10,000 in Milwaukee County Court as well.

The new charges come as Bayside is located in both Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties. Binon is being charged for receiving stolen property in Ozaukee County in relation to the Bayside theft.

According to the Milwaukee County criminal complain, Binon called her Bayside victim and friend from the Ozaukee County Jail. She promised to do "everything everybody wants" and offered to repay her frient.

She also said she would tell her friend "everything," and stated she had none of the stolen items left — she had taken the stolen things to Cedarburg and Milwaukee.

When the Bayside friend asked what was wrong, she said, "All I did was gamble." Binon admitted to being ashamed and sorry, according to the complaint, and told the Bayside woman that "something just snapped inside of me."

The thefts were noticed on May 12, when Binon's Grafton friend realized several pieces of jewelry were missing from her jewelry box, which was locked and hidden in a closet. Also missing were multiple pieces of Tiffany silverware. The total value of the missing items was estimated at $92,238.

The Ozaukee County Sheriff's Department detective investigating the thefts checked a property registry system to see whether any of the stolen items had been sold to local pawn shops. When a list came back, the Grafton woman confirmed several items were hers, but also noted that a number of items sold along with hers belonged to a friend living in Bayside, for whom Binon was a caretaker.

The Bayside friend had given Binon the alarm system code that protects some of her jewelry while she is away, according to the criminal complaint. The Bayside woman saw photos of what Binon had stolen, and one of the items was a gold pin that had the woman's name engraved on it. She recognized this as a piece of her own jewelery and when she checked the locked jewelery closet, it was missing — along with many other pieces of jewelry, totaling over $100,000 she told police.

Binon after waiving her right to a preliminary hearing. She is charged with theft exceeding $10,000 and is expected to appear in court for a status hearing at 1:30 p.m. July 14. 

Binon is scheduled to appear in the Milwaukee County Court for a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. July 19.

If convicted, Binon faces up to $25,000 in fines and up to 10 years in prison in Milwaukee, and an additional 20 years in prison and $50,000 in fines if convicted in Ozaukee County.