Fifty-three-year-old Robert Spriggs, of Washington, Pa., remained jailed after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
North Strabane Township police say Spriggs stole the rings, each valued at $30,000, while visiting his 81-year-old mother on Nov. 13. Police say Spriggs swallowed those rings, along with a $15 ring he owned, while police questioned him.
All three rings were recovered while Spriggs was confined in a Washington County Jail cell without a flushable toilet.
The Observer-Reporter newspaper in Washington, Pa. says Spriggs told police he swallowed the rings after "panicking" when officers searched him.