Despite the claim by Pierre Le Guennec, Picasso's electrician, according to which the works in his possession were given to him by the artist in exchange for several electrical jobs he did, the Correctional Court in Grasse, in southern France, began a trial against him for the alleged trafficking of 271 works by Picasso. Le Guennec and his wife were accused by lawyers for the Picasso family for the crime of concealment of stolen artworks. The couple, who kept the works in a garage for nearly 40 years, claims to have received them legally. Picasso's electrician maintained at the first hearing that the artist's family gave him the works, among these small oil paintings and drawings, to pay some of his services and as a sign of gratitude and friendship. The lawyer for the heirs of the author criticized the couple for not remembering when they received the works and for several other irregularities in their statements that prove, in his opinion, that they are being used to "launder" the legal release of the works of art into the market. The group of works in possession of the couple is composed mainly of 28 lithographs, several cubist paintings and sketches of designs that were painted by the artist between 1900 and 1932. The case became known in 2010 when the electrician visited the Picasso Administration to obtain a certificate of authentication from the four that the artist's official management issues. The trial, in which seven witnesses will testify, including well-known experts of Picasso's work, is set to end this month when the final verdict is reached and sentencing occurs.