CARLSTADT, N.J., June 11 (UPI) -- A New Jersey petty thief who unwittingly stole a Goya masterpiece painting has been sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Steven Lee Olson along with a friend on Nov. 8, 2006 broke into a truck parked overnight at a motel in Bartonsville, Pa. The pair took tools and the painting from the vehicle, whose driver had stopped en route from Ohio to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan. Only later did they learn the value of the masterpiece "Children With a Cart" created by the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya, and appraised at between $1 million and $2.5 million, the Star-Ledger newspaper reported Wednesday.
When they were unable to sell the painting they attempted to turn it in and claim a $50,000 reward. But their story broke down and the thieves pleaded guilty last year.
The friend was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. U.S. District Judge Dennis
Cavanaugh in Newark noted Olson's role as the mastermind of the theft and his long criminal record that included 23 prior arrests in giving him the stiffer sentence.
