AP — MAN ARRESTED IN GOYA THEFT PLEADS GUILTY

AVV 12-26 #723880

By Janet Frankston Lorin

Associated Press Writer

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A truck driver accused of stealing a Goya painting from an unattended transport truck, then claiming he found it in his basement, pleaded guilty December 20.

Steven Lee Olson of Carlstadt pleaded to conspiracy to commit theft under a deal with federal prosecutors. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 under the reduced charge.

Olson’s neighbor, Roman Szurko, pleaded guilty December 18 to the same charge, prosecutors said.

Olson was charged in October with stealing “Children with a Cart,’’ a 1778 painting by famed Spanish artist Francisco de Goya.

The painting, insured for $1 million, was on its way to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City from Ohio’s Toledo Museum of Art in November 2006. It was stolen as the transport drivers spent the night at a motel in Bartonsville, Penn. They discovered the next morning that the painting was gone.

Within days, Olson contacted federal authorities through an attorney to say he had found the painting in his basement.

After a lengthy investigation, authorities concluded that Olson, a self-employed truck driver, had lifted the piece himself.

Olson told US District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh that the $50,000 reward money wasn’t the reason he called authorities.

“I really wanted to get rid of it,’’ Olson said.

His attorney, Joe Ferrante, said his client and Szurko didn’t know what they had until they read the shipping documents.

“When they got it, they realized it was more than they could handle,” he said.

Olson said he didn’t destroy the painting because “it kind of grew on me.”

He was charged with theft of an object of cultural heritage from a museum, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His plea deal gave him a reduced charge and sentence. Sentencing is expected in March.

The painting was returned undamaged to the Toledo museum. In February, the museum allowed the painting to be included for a few weeks in the Guggenheim exhibit.

Goya painted “Children with a Cart” as a model for a tapestry planned for the bedroom of a Spanish prince. The group of four children includes one boy blowing a horn and another with his back to the viewer.