An 836-pound “cursed” emerald worth nearly $1 billion will be returned to Brazil after 15 years under lock and key in Los Angeles.

The 180,000-carat Bahia Emerald has long been held in Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department custody, but a federal judge's ruling could clear the way for it to return to Brazil.

The rare Bahia Emerald, which was mined in Brazil in 2001 and smuggled to the US, has long been the subject of competing claims of ownership