Son of former Patriots star charged in theft of father’s Super Bowl rings

The son of former NFL defensive lineman Vince Wilfork has been charged with stealing two of his father’s Super Bowl championship rings that he won while playing with the New England Patriots.

D’Aundre Holmes-Wilfork, 23, was arrested May 22 in the theft of the rings along with a prized collection of other jewelry worth more than $300,000, according to authorities in Galveston, Texas.

Reports said Wilfork called police on May 10 to report his two Super Bowl rings missing, along with two AFC championship rings and a 2001 national championship ring he won with the Miami Hurricanes. Also missing were several necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Wilfork said he did not report the missing jewelry immediately, believing that he may have packed the items in storage, according to a criminal complaint released Wednesday by the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.

The younger Wilfork, meanwhile, had already sold the valuables, reports said.

Vince Wilfork called police the same day to report that a longtime Patriots fan emailed him out of the blue, saying he saw the Super Bowl rings for sale in an online memorabilia group.

Investigators eventually caught up with the person trying to sell the rings, and that’s when Wilfork’s son’s name surfaced. The individual told authorities that he paid Holmes-Wilfork $62,000 in 2020 for the two Super Bowl rings, which have since been turned over to police.

Police later discovered that eight other items from Wilfork’s trove were sold for $4,600 in March 2020.

In 2016, Holmes-Wilfork was charged with felony drug possession after walking onto the football team at the University of Houston as a freshman, according to TMZ. He reportedly faced 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine after police found 381 grams of codeine in his car during a traffic stop in Friendswood, Texas.

It’s unclear how the case was ultimately adjudicated, but Holmes-Wilfork, 19 at the time, was kicked off the team as a result.

He now faces felony theft of property charges and has since been released on $300,000 bond, according to NBC Sports.

The elder Wilfork, 39, was a first-round draft pick for the Patriots in 2004 and he remained with the team until 2015, when New England beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl 49.

Wilfork won his first NFL championship with the team in 2005, when the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl 39.

After his final season with the Patriots, Wilfork joined the Houston Texans, where he played his final two seasons and finished his career in 2016.