Minn. woman hides stolen $6,500 mink coat in her underwear for three days

(CBS/WCCO) BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - A woman in Minnesota has admitted to stealing a $6,500 mink coat and hiding it in her underwear.

Stephanie Moreland, 46, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of felony theft of property after being arrested on New Year's Eve,  reports CBS station WCCO.

Police reportedly detained Moreland after the Alaskan Fur Company reported that a short mink coat was stolen by a woman who had been in the store acting suspiciously.

According to police, a sales associate accused Moreland of taking the coat, but she denied it and left. The sales associate took down Moreland's license plate number and called police, reports WCCO.

When police located the car, they say they found the coat's hanger but no coat.

They searched Moreland for weapons and booked her into jail for the weekend on possible theft charges. Three days later, a detective interviewed Moreland who then admitted she stole the coat but claimed she had already sold it.

When the investigator informed Moreland he would be sending her to the Hennepin County Jail downtown, he was shocked when she lifted up her dress and pulled out the mink coat from her underwear.

It turns out Moreland had apparently hidden the coat in her underwear for three days while being questioned by police in jail.

"She had modified her underwear. She actually cut the rear of the underwear out so that from the back it appeared she was not wearing underwear and then stuffed it down the front," said Bloomington Police Commander Mark Stehlik, at the time of the incident, reports WCCO.

Moreland's sentencing has been set for Aug. 8.