Juliet Germanotta
© John RocaJuliet Germanotta
A congressional candidate from Wisconsin was busted by the NYPD in her home state when she tried to sell a ring she ripped off from a Manhattan jewelry store, police said Wednesday.

Juliet Germanotta - who in campaign literature vowed to keep the state "fiscally responsible by questioning expenses " - had ordered a $4,800, 18-karat yellow gold Zambian emerald and diamond ring from Mikaelians Jewelry on West 47th Street in Midtown on Sept. 19.

But Germanotta, 36, who describes herself as a "proud transgender woman," claimed the ring she received was not to her liking, and requested her money back from the store.

Instead of sending the real ring back, she sent the store a $10 replica - and sold the original, cops said.

Mikaelians filed a complaint with the NYPD on Oct. 2, recognizing the ring they received in return as a phony. And when Germanotta's buyer in Wisconsin had the real ring appraised, it was learned that the jewelry was hot.

NYPD detectives picked up Germanotta in Wisconsin, where she confessed to the crime, authorities said.

She waived extradition in court Tuesday.

Germanotta was brought by the officers on Wednesday to Manhattan's Midtown North Precinct via a Delta flight. Charges against her were pending.

As Germanotta was led into the stationhouse wearing jeans and a hoodie, she refused to answer a reporter's questions and instead stared straight ahead.

Germanotta, an ordained minister, is running as a Democrat against Rep. Ron Kind.

She was born in Texas but grew up in New York City, according to her Facebook page. She moved to Wisconsin in the early 2000s and lives in La Crosse.

Mikaelians Jewelry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.