Prison Terms Ordered in Matisse Art Theft Case

Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks today ordered prison time for the pair charged with illegal possession, transportation, and sale of Henri Matisse's Odalisque in Red Pants.

The federal court in the southern district of Florida sentenced Pedro Antonio Marcuello Guzman to 33 months incarceration followed by three years of supervised release.  Maria Martha Elisa Ornelas Lazo was sentenced to 21 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Click here for details about this theft, swap, and fence art crime, which tells of the missing painting from the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) undercover investigation that recovered the masterwork.

This post is researched, written, and published on the blog Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire at culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Text copyrighted 2012 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

Defendants Plead Guilty in Stolen and Switched Matisse Painting Case

A pair indicted for their role in receiving a stolen Henri Matisse painting will be sentenced following a guilty plea hearing held on October 30.  A federal grand jury in Miami handed up indictments in July against Pedro Antonio Marcuello Guzman and Maria Martha Elisa Ornelas Lazo for their involvement with the Odalisque in Red Pants, reported stolen from the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art (Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas (MACCSII)) in Venezuela in or around December 2002.

Henri Matisse

The two signed off on proffers that describe their role in the possession, transportation, and sale of the painting.  The proffers state that Marcuello Guzman brokered the sale of the $3+ million painting to undercover FBI agents for a discounted price of $740,000.  Ornelas Lazo later flew from Mexico City to Miami International Airport carrying the Matisse painting in a tube.  The proffers go on to describe the following details of the transfer, switch, and sale of the artwork:

" ... Ornelas and co-conspirator Marcuello met the FBI under cover agents ("UCs") at a Miami Beach restaurant. During the meeting . . . Ornelas explained that she had taken multiple precautions to minimize being stopped by U.S. Customs and to minimize being inspected, such as in the manner of her packing, dressing lightly, and bringing no food into the U.S. Ornelas admitted taking the photographs of the painting that were sent to the UC's. Ornelas advised that she was present for prior inspections when experts inspected the painting and found it to be authentic. Ornelas added that one specialist said the painting was worth $3.7 million. During the meeting, Ornelas indicated that the experts were nervous because they seem to be aware of the painting's history. When one of the UCs asked if the experts were nervous because the painting was stolen, Ornelas replied affirmatively. During the meeting, Ornelas stated that she knew everything in regards to the painting.

"The following day, July 17, 2012, co-conspirator Marcuello, Ornelas, and the UCs met at a Miami Beach hotel to conduct the sales transaction for the stolen Henri Matisse painting. ...

"During the July 17, 2012 transaction, Ornelas advised the UCs that she had researched the history of the stolen painting online when it showed up years ago at her residence in Mexico. Ornelas further indicated that she had had the painting inspectedby experts in Mexico City, but that none had been willing to authenticate the painting in writing given its origins [referring to the painting having been stolen.]  Ornelas stated that employees at the museum in Caracas had done a "switch'' [referring to the replacement of the original painting with an imitation].

"At the conclusion of the July 17, 2012 meeting, the UCs agreed to purchase the painting and followed through with an ostensible attempt to conduct a wire transfer payment to a bank account supplied to the UCs by Ornelas. Ornelas and co-conspirator Marcuello were then arrested and the painting seized."


This post is researched, written, and published on the blog Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire at culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Text copyrighted 2012 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

Grand Jury Hands Up Indictment in Matisse FBI Sting

A federal grand jury in the southern district of Florida (Miami) handed up indictments on Tuesday against a pair with alleged ties to the stolen Henri Matisse painting, Odalisque in Red Pants.  The grand jury charged Pedro Antonio Marcuello Guzman and Maria Martha Elisa Ornelas Lazo with a three count indictment.

The indictment alleges that on or about December 1, 2011, Guzman met with an undercover  Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent an agent and a confidential informant (CI) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation "to discuss the sale of the Henri Matisse painting 'Odalisque in Red Pants' which had been reported stolen from the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art (Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas (MACCSII) in Caracas, Venezuela in or around December 2002." Guzman allegedly gave the CI a password four days later to access an email file containing photographs of the artwork.

Talks continued to work out the payment and transfer of the painting, and Lazo allegedly agreed to transport the stolen artwork from Mexico to the United States. A transaction date of July 17, 2012 was set up where both cash and a wire transfer totaling $740,000 would purchase the painting.

Lazo flew from Mexico City to Miami International Airport on July 16 carrying a red tube that contained the Matisse painting.  She then met with the undercover FBI agent and a second one "posing as an art dealer" in order to close the deal.  Arrests followed.

A July 19, 2012 press release issued by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and the FBI Miami Field Office reported that the painting is valued at $3 million.

Guzman and Lazo are each charged with conspiring to transport and sell stolen property (18 USC 371), interstate transportation of stolen property (18 USC 2314), and possession of stolen property (18 USC 2315).  They face potential maximum penalties of five years in prison on the conspiracy count, ten years on the transportation count, and another ten years on the possession count.

Prosecutors also filed a criminal forfeiture action under 18 USC 981(a)(1)(C) in order to gain custody of the painting.  Both the criminal and forfeiture cases are docketed at 12-CR-20559.

An indictment is simply a process of bringing persons into the court process.  The defendants in this case are presumed innocent unless the government proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This post is researched, written, and published on the blog Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire at http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Text copyrighted 2012 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com