Image by Flickr user Ben McLeod

A 21-year-old Johns Island woman is facing up to 20 years behind bars after being found guilty of stealing a diamond ring worth $270,000 from Alease Fisher, a high-end fashion designer.

This is how it all (allegedly) played out: 21-year-old Juliet Jayne Branch was dating Alease Fisher's son, who brought her up to the family's Connecticut estate in October for a party. After a couple of drinks, the ring, which had been left on a kitchen counter, ended up in Branch's purse. Branch took the ring to Atlanta with her and sold it for $20,000.

Branch told everyone she had recieved the large chunk of money from her grandmother, but soon after moving into Fisher's house in February, incriminating photographs of Alease's ring were discovered in Branch's e-mail correspondence to a friend in Charleston.

Unfortunately, the ring has yet to be recovered from the Atlanta jeweler.

The Post and Courier has all the details on this curious case; get them here.