Art thief handed suspended sentence for ‘heist of the century’

Α 50-year-old man accused of stealing three paintings - including a Picasso - from Greece's National Gallery in Athens in January 2012, in what was called the "heist of the century," was handed a suspended prison sentence of six years on Friday.

Giorgos Sarmantzopoulos was found guilty of aggravated theft of "things of artistic value that were in a collection exposed to public view, in a public building." The court, however, recognized his "good behavior" after the heist as a mitigating factor and suspended his sentence pending his appeal, on the condition that he wears an electronic tag and remains within 3 km of his house.

The 50-year-old, who told authorities he was professionally engaged in construction work as a painter, admitted to stealing the paintings out of what he described as "a passion for art." They included Pablo Picasso's 1934 work "Head of a Woman,"...