In June 2013, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into the theft of six N.C. Wyeth paintings that were stolen from a Portland businessman. “Go, Dutton and that right speedily…” for Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel “Black Swan” and “The Encounter on Freshwater Cliff” for Charles Kingsley’s book, “Westward Ho”.
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Roberts then obtained a $100,000 loan from Dina, and urged the pawn shop owner to drop the asking price for the paintings so that they would be sold more quickly, according to a pre-sentencing memorandum prepared by Bowman.
In December 2014, the FBI’s Los Angeles division recovered four on the paintings from a pawn shop in Beverly Hills. He pleaded guilty and is serving 28 months in federal prison.
Sixty-five-year-old Lawrence Estrella of Worcester, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in February 2015 for taking the stolen paintings to California. The agency is still working to determine who stole $500 million worth of art from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in a 1990 theft that stands as the largest art heist in U.S. history.
The timing of the reward suggests that the trail may have run cold on the two remaining paintings.
FBI Los Angeles Director David Bowditch praised a member of Beverly Hills Police for her work in discovering the stolen artwork.
Ultimately three men were found to have transported the stolen work to California and pawned them for a hundred thousand dollars.
Coroniti, 55, also of North Hollywood, pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property on March 19. Although his room at the hotel was searched and a firearm was located, no paintings were found.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation believes the two remaining paintings are in New England. He is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
In a statement earlier Tuesday, Lisi described the investigation as “an active and aggressive effort, with law enforcement following leads and tracking down potential sources of information across the country”.
The FBI is offering a $20,000 award for anyone with information about several pieces of art stolen in Maine.
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Parties with inside knowledge on the robbery or the paintings’ current whereabouts are being asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
