Lawrence Estrella, Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property, Maine 2015
Stolen Paintings Worth $1 Million Recovered in California
Portland, Maine - In a brazen heist, a Massachusetts man has been sentenced to over seven years in prison for stealing and transporting six N.C. Wyeth paintings worth over $1 million.
Lawrence Estrella, 65, of Worcester, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty on February 20, 2015, to interstate transportation of stolen property.
According to court records and information from the sentencing hearing, in May 2013, six N.C. Wyeth paintings were stolen from a residence in Portland, Maine.
Estrella transported four of the six stolen paintings to California in an effort to sell them. Law enforcement officers in California located his vehicle in the parking lot of a hotel in North Hollywood.
Estrella's room at the hotel was searched, but no paintings were found. However, on December 19, 2014, law enforcement officers recovered the four stolen paintings from a pawn shop in Beverly Hills, California.
The four recovered paintings are titled: 'At a touch from Michael's knife,' 'The Unwrit Dogma,' 'The Duel,' and 'John Brimblecombe.'
The two remaining stolen paintings - 'The Encounter on Freshwater Cliff' and 'Go, Dutton, and that right speedily' - have not yet been recovered.
Estrella was sentenced to 92 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.
Contact Assistant United States Attorney David B. Joyce at (207) 780-3257 for more information.
Key Facts
- State: Maine
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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