Pedro Antonio Marcuello Guzmán (Cuban, 46) and María Martha Elisa Ornelas Lazo (Mexican, 51) have been sentenced to prison after attempting the sale, in Miami, USA, of a Henri Matisse painting stolen from the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Caracas. The sentence, announced before an audience at the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Miami, is for 33 months for Marcuello Guzmán and 21 months for Ornelas Lazo.
The painting, Odalisque au Pantalon Rouge, is dated 1925 and has been valued at 3 million pesos. The couple stole it from the Venezuelan museum in 2000, according to international sources. After their sentences are completed, the thieves will remain on conditional parole for three years.
Ornelas and Marcuello were arrested in July, after attempting to sell the painting to an undercover FBI agent in a Miami Beach hotel.
As for the stolen Matisse, the prosecutor indicated that the US government will return it to Venezuela at some point.