JFK baggage handlers accused of stealing loot

updated 1:21 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 2008

NEW YORK - Two baggage handlers at Kennedy airport are accused of stealing more than $250,000 worth of diamonds and other jewelry.

Queens prosecutors said Monday that a 51-year-old worker and his 39-year-old supervisor are charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. They say the jewelry was stolen last week from a container marked "high value" that was being shipped from Switzerland to Brazil.

Police say the supervisor broke the seals on the container and gave three boxes of jewelry to the other worker. They say the worker then hid the jewelry in his jacket before placing it in a locker at an American Airlines terminal, where investigators found it.

Each of the men is held on $5,000 bail and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

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