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The man pleads guilty in the case of theft, including the burglary at the Roger Maris Museum

The man pleads guilty in the case of theft, including the burglary at the Roger Maris Museum

Maris

Harrisburg, pa. (KVRR-Kfgo-AP)-A man from Pennsylvania who was part of a group that stole paintings by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, among other valuables, was sentenced to eight years of federal prison, after being guilty of theft of major art.

Thomas “Tommy” Trotta, 49, is the fourth person sentenced as part of the investigation on theft that took place for more than two decades in 20 museums, shops and institutions. The rings in the world series that once belonged to Baseball Great Yogi Berra were among the stolen elements.

Trotta was part of a theft ring that broke out in West Acres in Fargo and stole collections from the Roger Maris Museum in July 2016. He wore a fire uniform and wore an ax when he and others entered the shopping center.

Trotta was guided to pay $ 2.8 million in refund as part of his punishment.

Three men convicted for related offenses earlier this year are waiting for the conviction.

Many of the stolen art works and other materials remain unknown, federal prosecutors said on Friday. The thefts took place in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North Dakota and Washington, DC

Trotta acknowledged that he stole Warhol Silkscreen “Le Grande Passion” and Pollock from 1949, 1949 Springs Winter Painting from the Everhart Museum in SCRANTON, Pennsylvania, in 2005, prosecutors said. In that theft, the thieves were apparently helped by a large tent that covered the rear entrance for an event, as they shattered a glass door. Pollock painting was estimated in 2023 worth nearly $ 12 million.

“Springs Winter” was borrowed at the museum from a private collector. “Le Grande Passion”, owned by the museum, was created in 1984 within the Commission for an advertising campaign for the Grand Passion Cognac. An official at the museum said on Friday that these works were not recovered.

Prosecutors said Trotta also acknowledged that he stole MVP rings and plates worth $ 500,000 collective from Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey. He was also involved in the theft of a Tiffany lamp, boxing objects and horses and articles related to the baseball slugger Roger Maris and the legend of Ben Hogan.

It is believed that Berra’s rings were melted and sold far less than they were worth as baseball memories. The gold nuggets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars were taken from the Mining Sterling Hill Museum in Ogdensburg, New Jersey.

“Upper Hudson”, an 1871 painting by Jasper Cropsey estimated to be $ 100,000 or more, was apparently burnt in the effort to hide the crime, according to the American prosecutor. It was taken in 2011 from Ringwood Manor from Ringwood, New Jersey.