Thief of Warhol, Pollock Paintings Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison

Joseph Atsus, a 51-year-old Pennsylvania man, was sentenced on Tuesday to 48 months in prison, supervised release, and $1 million in restitution for multiple charges related to his role in a notorious museum theft ring, the U.S. Department of Justice announced earlier this week.

Atsus was part of an eight-member gang that stole millions of pieces of art and memorabilia from 20 museums, institutions and stores in six states and Washington, D.C., between 1999 and 2019

Andy Warhol’s Silk Screen Print Is Among the Most Valuable Works Stolen great passion (1984) and oil painting by Jackson Pollock springs winter (1949), stolen in 2005 from the Everhart Museum, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Additionally, the gang stole antique firearms, gold nuggets, nine World Series rings, seven championship rings and other rings and two MVP plaques, all belonging to New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra, from the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey.

Artsus is the sixth member of the gang to be sentenced. Accomplice Nicholas Dombek, 55, was sentenced to 108 months in prison last month, while Damien Boland, 50, is awaiting sentencing. Four other people pleaded guilty last year and were sentenced with terms ranging from six months to 96 months.

Many of the stolen works remain unaccounted for. In at least one case, Donbeck burned a painting worth $125,000 to prevent it from being recovered as evidence and used in the case. According to prosecutors, the Berra ring was melted down and sold for just $12,000.

While prosecutors sought eight years in prison for Artsus, his ex-wife and mother pleaded for a lighter sentence due to the high needs of his 11-year-old autistic son.

“They have [poured] enter their lives [the son’s] care. It takes every ounce of energy,” Atsus’ mother Oralia Iniguez told the court.

U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion was moved by the admission; he made it clear to Artsus that he was reducing his sentence for the sake of the children. “I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it for him,” the judge said, according to Scranton public media organization WVIA.