A former Seattle art dealer who ran with two prolific Granite Falls thieves was sentenced to four years behind bars last week.
Kurt Lidtke was in cahoots with Jerry Hugh Christy and his wife, Georgia, both of Granite Falls. The couple is awaiting sentencing after selling stolen works of art to undercover federal agents.
Jerry Christy and Lidtke met as cellmates while locked up in Monroe. I wrote about the Christys’ streak of residential burglaries in Snohomish County in December.
It’s a kooky story that hops around the country and includes a Rembrandt etching, Greek busts and paintings by renowned Northwest artists.
Lidtke was sentenced last week in federal court to four years in prison for conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce and interstate transportation of stolen property.
According to an FBI press release, Judge Robert S. Lasnik told Lidtke, “You have tricked so many people into thinking you could be trusted to go into their homes, or entrusted to sell their art on consignment … but the evidence shows you are a thief who thinks he is entitled to other people’s property and money.”
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