Florida Man Gets 7 Years In Prison For Selling Art Stolen From LA Gallery
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors say a Florida man convicted of selling and possessing paintings stolen from a Los Angeles art gallery and tax evasion has been sentenced to 7½ years in federal prison.
A U.S. attorney's statement Friday says 44-year-old Matthew Taylor of Vero Beach must also pay more than $1.2 million in restitution, some of it to two art galleries, but most to the IRS.
In August, a jury found Taylor guilty of selling a stolen Granville Redmond painting for $85,000, claiming it was his mother's.
Taylor was also found guilty of knowingly possessing a stolen Lucien Frank painting and trying to pass it off as by a different artist.
Taylor was previously charged with selling forgeries of multi-million-dollar masterworks by Van Gogh and others, but that was dismissed before trial.
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