Alabama Woman Charged in Theft of Ben Franklin Bust
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 19, 2012 |
Andrea Lawton, 46, of Mobile, Alabama, was charged yesterday by indictment with one count of interstate transportation of stolen property and one count of concealing stolen property, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. According to the indictment, on August 24, 2012, Lawton burglarized a home and stole a rare bust of Benjamin Franklin valued at approximately $3 million. Lawton then fled with the stolen property, eventually ending up in Alabama, where she initiated plans to sell the bust. She was arrested after boarding a bus to Elkton, Maryland.
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, a $500,000 fine, and a $200 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lower Merion Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Khan.