PORTLAND, Maine – A man who transported four stolen N.C. Wyeth paintings worth more than $1 million from Maine to California has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
Sixty-five-year-old Worcester (WUS'-tur), Massachusetts, resident Lawrence Estrella pleaded guilty in February to interstate transportation of stolen property. He was sentenced Tuesday.
Wyeth was the father of fellow artist Andrew Wyeth. The Wyeths split their time between Maine and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
Six N.C. Wyeth paintings were stolen from a residence in Portland, Maine. Federal prosecutors say Estrella transported four to California last year. The four were recovered from a pawn shop in Beverly Hills.
A man who used the stolen paintings to secure a loan from the pawn shop was sentenced to more than two years in prison.
The two other paintings haven't been recovered.
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