A federal judge Wednesday gave a 4 ½ year prison sentence to a man the feds say helped pilfer $2 million worth of art, antiques and other valuables that had been kept in a Deerfield storage unit.
U.S. District Judge Manish Shah said John Garcia had “spent a lifetime committing crimes” with “no sign of stopping” until recently.
Garcia admitted in 2023 that he worked with two others to steal more than 180 high-end valuables from the unit and sell them for thousands of dollars. The theft began late in March 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors say the owners of an Illinois jewelry store and an Indiana auction house paid Garcia $137,350 by cash and check — as well as with a diamond pendant worth $10,000.
Garcia pleaded guilty to wire fraud and agreed to cooperate with the feds after he’d been caught. But while handing down Garcia’s sentence Wednesday, Shah said he wasn’t sure if Garcia helped out of genuine remorse or because he saw “a deal that could be made.”
Charged along with Garcia were onetime Public Storage property manager Brian Gustafson and Marilyn Rothschild of Highland Park. Gustafson faced a jury in April 2023. The owner of the stolen valuables took the stand during his trial, according to court transcripts.
The owner told jurors that he’d used his Public Storage unit to house “art and antiques, carpets, some paintings … architectural things, bric-a-brac.” And with the help of a prosecutor, the man described some of the items that had been stolen and later recovered.
He told the jury about a painting of St. Jerome, “probably executed in the early 1500s.”
“The idea that he’s on a skull today we think of as being kind of creepy,” the man testified. “But as of the time, it was meant to sort of make everybody sort of think life is short, so enjoy it.
“So maybe a weird — anyway,” he added.
He estimated its value at between $150,000 and $300,000. Then, he turned to another item.
“So that’s a little bit crazy,” he said. “That’s a crossbow. I think it’s 16th or 17th century.”
The man told the jury that the crossbow “actually has bolts with it and the winder” and “it’s pretty rare to get sort of a crossbow that age where you can still use it.
“Not that I was planning to use it,” he said.
He said the crossbow was probably worth between $10,000 and $15,000. But after someone apparently dropped it in the courtroom, he quipped, “now it’s probably down to 14.”
The man also said a wooden statue was “a carving from the Netherlands, probably 1600s, the Virgin Mary standing on a dragon. It’s a thing from Revelations.”
He said it was likely worth between $10,000 and $20,000.
The man testified that, when he realized the items had been stolen, he “literally, like, freaked — I mean, I can still recall, like, the emotional, just bam.”
An inventory of the artwork made public in 2021 also listed French flatware from the 1800s, a 1976 concert poster for The Who by German artist Gunther Kieser, a two-handled cup from Tiffany & Co. dating back to 1893, and a Currier and Ives print of The City of Chicago, 1874.
Garcia had rented his own storage unit at the facility and visited frequently, according to his plea agreement. It said he and Gustafson became friendly, and Garcia sold items that Gustafson gave to him “on several occasions.”
Then, in March 2020, Gustafson gave Garcia keys to the storage unit full of the valuable artifacts, according to Garcia’s plea agreement. It said they agreed that Garcia would steal and sell the items, and then they’d split the profits.
Garcia and Rothschild also worked together to sell the stolen items, according to the plea deal.
Garcia wound up testifying against Gustafson, and the jury found Gustafson guilty of wire fraud. Shah sentenced him last year to two years in prison. Rothschild pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced by Shah to probation.
But prosecutors say Garcia was “the most culpable” and “the leader of the scheme.” They said he has 14 past convictions, including for theft, forgery and counterfeiting. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Guzman acknowledged Wednesday that he has managed to comply with the conditions of his pretrial release.
When it was his turn to speak Wednesday, Garcia thanked the judge for allowing him to wait out trial at a West Side ministry. He said he’d never had that kind of opportunity despite his previous trouble. He said he’s “finally” done with the “stupid things in the past.”
“It’s changed me,” Garcia said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
