New developments in the $10,000 LeBron James pendant case

MEDINA, Ohio - The story of the diamond-studded LeBron James pendant has taken another turn.

NewsChannel5 first told you about the piece of jewelry with James’ number 23 on it back in July 2010, when a young Akron woman had it appraised. Then-19-year-old Va’Neisha Robinson put the pendant that she wore in high school up on eBay.

The pendant, valued at $10,000, was sold, but now, neither Robinson nor the person who purchased it have it in their possession.

The latest news on the LeBron pendant drama is that the lawyers for Robinson are planning to file an amended motion, going after James’ longtime friend and associate, Maverick Carter, and Carter’s mother, Katherine L. Powers. Carter is the CEO of LeBron James' marketing company, LRMR.

The civil seeks ownership of the $10,000 pendant from Carter and unspecified monetary damages from his mother. In October 2010, Robinson filed a $50,000 lawsuit saying that Carter lured her and her mother to his house under false pretenses, and they were then surrounded by eight or nine unknown men, demanding the piece the jewelry.

Speaking from her lawyer’s office in Medina on Thursday, Robinson told NewsChannel5 she will not give up her quest to get the pendant back.

“It’s deceptive. It’s betrayal,” Robinson said, referring to Carter’s mother, who was a family friend. Robinson said she was lured to the Wadsworth house Carter and his mother share under the impression that she was going to meet Akron native LeBron James.

“I was going to get there. I was going to meet him and show him what I have for sale,” she said, with a smile on her face. The dream of meeting the now-Miami Heat star never happened.

WEB EXTRA: Click on the play button below to hear the 911 call:

Robinson said she bought the pendant in 2005 at a yard sale for $5 in a box of stuffed animals.

“It looked like costume jewelry. I had no idea I was carrying around $10,000,” Robinson said. According to Robinson’s Lawyer Matthew Bruce, Carter said in deposition that he lost the pendant, but never filed a police report.

Bruce said when he asked Carter why a police report for the so-called lost pendant was never filed, Carter told Bruce “Do you own anything more than $10,000?”

“(Carter) indicated he had a lot of jewelry. He had a lot of possessions that were worth thousands of dollars and, frankly, just thought he misplaced it,” Bruce said.

In a police report filed with the Wadsworth Police Department, Robinson is listed as a suspect for receiving stolen property, but the report did not elaborate on the circumstances.

"There was no serial number on that pendant so it's untraceable," Robinson told NewsChannel5 in 2010. "That pendant is mine. It belongs to me. I want it back."

Judge James Kimlber ordered the pendant to stay with the Wadsworth Police Department until the civil suit is resolved. Bruce did not now when this case would make its way back into the courts. He told NewsChannel5 it would be awhile.