Massachusetts Man Awarded Damages in Suit Over Art Heist

A U.S. jury has found in favor of the plaintiff in a Massachusetts lawsuit filed in connection with a 1978 art heist.

The jury awarded plaintiff Michael Bakwin more than $3.1 million in damages on Tuesday.

The artwork was stolen from Bakwin’s Stockbridge, Mass., home in 1978. It included a piece by French impressionist Paul Cezanne.

In 2007, Bakwin sued retired attorney Robert Mardirosian. The seven paintings were stolen by one of Mardirosian’s former clients. Mardirosian was convicted in 2008 of harboring and attempting to sell the artwork and sentenced to seven years in prison.

The Cape Cod Times reports that the trial centered on whether Mardirosian transferred assets to family members in an attempt to appear insolvent.