LONDON (AP) — Two burglars who plotted the heist of a $6.4 million golden toilet, a fully-functional 18-karat piece of contemporary art that was ripped from the plumbing of an English mansion, were sentenced Friday to more than two years in a British prison.
The satirical commentary on consumer culture, titled “America,” by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, had only been on display for a couple days when five burglars swiped it from Blenheim Palace — the country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born — in September 2019. The purloined potty was never recovered and was believed to have been chopped up and sold.
“This bold and brazen heist took no more than 5 1/2 minutes to complete,” Judge Ian Pringle said in Oxford Crown Court. “America has never been seen again.”
James Sheen, 40, a roofer who pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy and transferring criminal property, was sentenced to four years in prison. Michael Jones, 39, who worked for Sheen and was convicted of burglary at trial, was sentenced to two years and three months.
Toilet once offered to Trump
The toilet weighed just over 215 pounds (98 kilograms) and was worth more than its weight in gold. The value of the bullion at the time was 2.8 million pounds ($3.5 million), but it was insured for 4.7 million pounds (more than $6 million).
The piece by Cattelan, whose work of a banana duct-taped to a wall was sold in 2024 for $6.2 million at auction in New York, poked fun at excessive wealth. It had previously been on display at The Guggenheim Museum in New York.
When U.S. President Donald Trump asked the museum to loan him a Van Gogh painting during his first term in office, the Guggenheim cheekily offered the toilet instead. The White House did not accept the offer.
The toilet had just gone on display when Jones visited the museum twice, booking a viewing the day before the theft to take photos, check out the lock and have his own private session on the golden throne. He deemed the experience “splendid” during his testimony.
Cameras capture swift smash-and-grab
The next morning before dawn the gang of thieves crashed through the wooden gates of the palace in two stolen vehicles and tore across well-tended lawns. They pulled up to the estate’s courtyard and smashed a window that Jones had photographed the day before.
The thieves used sledgehammers and a crowbar to wrench the toilet from its foundation, causing considerable damage to the 18th-century property, a UNESCO World Heritage site filled with valuable art and furniture that draws thousands of visitors each year.
Surveillance footage showed one of the men, whose face was hidden in a black mask, walking from the palace with a golden toilet seat in his hand. Two other men appeared to lift something golden into the trunk of a waiting car and the suspension sagged under the weight.
Sheen’s DNA was found on a sledgehammer left behind at the scene of the crime indicating he was among the burglars. Investigators also found hundreds of gold fragments on a pair of sweatpants at his home, which had come from cutting up the spoils of the caper.
Sheen had sent a relative a photo of 520,000 pounds in cash, which a prosecutor said was for the sale of about a fifth of the gold.
None of the gold or money has ever been recovered and no one else was charged with the theft.
Detective Superintendent Bruce Riddell of the Thames Valley Police said the investigation is ongoing and could include recovering luxury goods that were purchased with proceeds from the crime. He said investigators are confident they know at least two of the other culprits but don’t have the evidence yet to charge them.
Another convict, Frederick Doe, 37, also known as Frederick Sines, who tried to help Sheen find a buyer for the gold was spared a jail term when Pringle sentenced him last month to a suspended sentence for conspiracy to transfer criminal property. Pringle said the thieves had taken advantage of him.
Law catches up with longtime criminals
Both Sheen and Jones had lengthy criminal records, prosecutor Julian Christopher said.
At the time of the burglary, Sheen was on parole for a firearms conviction that involved a running gun battle with another car that injured passengers in a third vehicle. He was arrested for additional crimes while on release and has since been sentenced to serve more than 19 years in prison.
Jones had a record dating back to the age of 13 that included burglary, several car thefts and robbery.
Almost six years ago, on the eve of the heist, Jones did his reconnaissance work testing out the toilet. It was a Friday the 13th, a day many consider unlucky.
For several years it appeared that fortune had favored the burglars. They avoided charges for more than four years and several thieves have not been brought to justice. But Sheen and Jones ultimately paid a price for their roles — on Friday the 13th.
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