Former Southern California fugitive sentenced for stealing $260K in valuable paintings

California fugitive sentenced in paintings thefts

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — An art collector who stole more than a dozen valuable paintings from four Southern California galleries has been sentenced to nearly three years in state prison.

The Orange County district attorney’s office said Wednesday that Joseph Killebrew pleaded guilty to four counts of grand theft. He was arrested in February in Las Vegas, where authorities say he was living under an assumed name.

Prosecutors say Killebrew bought the paintings in 1999 with personal checks and then stopped payment on them before fleeing the state.

They also say Killebrew had collected $260,000 from his insurance company several months before for falsely reporting the theft of crystal, sculptures and oil paintings from his San Diego home.

San Diego County officials are pursuing an insurance fraud investigation.

Killebrew’s attorney, Glenn Osajima, didn’t immediately return a call for comment.