2 Men Are Sentenced in Theft of Golden Toilet
Two men who stole an 18-carat commode from Blenheim Palace in England in 2019 were sentenced on Friday to two to four years in prison for their roles in the theft.
The sentencing came after four men were accused of stealing or trying to sell the $6 million fully functioning toilet, an artwork titled 'America' by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, which was believed to have been chopped up so the gold could be sold.
James Sheen, 44, described by prosecutors as the mastermind behind the theft, pleaded guilty in April 2024 to burglary, transferring criminal property and conspiracy to transfer criminal property. On Friday, he received a four-year sentence.
Michael Jones, 39, was sentenced to 27 months in prison. Prosecutors said he made reconnaissance trips to Blenheim Palace near Oxford in advance of the theft. He was found guilty of burglary after a trial in March.
'This was an extraordinary case in many respects,' Shan Saunders, a solicitor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement. 'It is not every day that we prosecute high-value burglaries of stately homes, let alone the audacious theft of an 18-carat gold toilet.'
Just as unusual, he added, was that despite the level of planning that went into the theft, 'the offenders left such a trail of evidence in their wake.'
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