Ah, the gift that keeps on giving, or least has been giving steadily since last May. Yes folks, I’m talking about the ever-present Salt Lake City Antiques theft scandal, that has ensnared a half dozen people, led to one guilty plea already and has seen charges dismissed against two individuals. This time, however, in the case of John W. Pilcher, there was never any doubt about either his involvement in the case, or his guilt, which was decided definitively on Aug. 18, 2008.

I’ll do my best to keep this brief brief.

Pilcher plead guilty on Aug. 18 to a class A misdemeanor theft, in 3rd District court, which carries with it up to a year in jail. He’ll be sentenced on Nov. 3 before Judge Robin Reese.

That sentence and that plea is actually a win-win for Pilcher, who originally was charged with participating in an antique theft ring and knowingly selling a stolen painting to a local antique dealer. That charge carried with it as many as 15 years in the clink. Given the alternative possibility of 15 years, there's question that in the same predicament I'd plead down to a year. I assume Pilcher thought the same.

Pilcher sold the painting, Approaching Storm by artist Edward Evans, to Salt Lake dealer Anthony Christensen for $5,000 in February. Christensen valued the painting at $30,000 and returned the merch to its true owner as soon as he was informed that it was stolen. If you remember every single StyleWire post – I know you do – then you’ll remember that I write a few weeks ago about the charges against Christensen being dismissed; a good call, I’d say.

Pilcher, however, bought the stolen art from one of the thieves out of the trunk of his car, in a Sears parking lot, for about $1,000. Hard to deny knowing that was a shady deal.

Here’s a link to The Salt Lake Tribune and the update on the story.

-Noah Fleisher, Aug. 25, 2008