Gardner Estate Thief Sentenced
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WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina — A woman has been sentenced to 30 months probation for stealing from the estate of actress Ava Gardner, taking family heirlooms and original Frank Sinatra recordings.
Angela Renee Sykes, 43, on Wednesday entered an Alford plea to the charge under which she didn’t admit guilt but acknowledged that evidence would likely lead to her conviction, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. Prosecutors say Ms. Sykes took more than $1 million worth of property between 2001 and 2005, when she worked as a nurse caring for Gardner’s sister, Myra Pearce. Pearce, Gardner’s closest living relative, inherited the estate after Gardner died in 1990.
