The 44-year-old Slovak was wanted 16 years ago for a series of thefts, for which he was sentenced to prison.
He has, as far as is known, stayed away from the country since then, but Olympic hockey in Milan proved too tempting, NBC reports.
Italian police were able to track the man to a residence on the outskirts of Milan after he checked in, and arrested him, taking him to prison.
Slovakia beat Finland 4-1, but that will be little consolation for the now-imprisoned man, who will serve eleven months and seven days behind bars in Italy.
