Man Gets Probation in Theft of Oscars

A La Puente man was sentenced Wednesday to three years probation in connection with the theft of 55 Oscar statuettes last year.

Anthony Hart, 40, who had pleaded no contest earlier this year to felony charges of receiving stolen property, also was ordered by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry Green to pay $200 in restitution.

Hart was one of three men who pleaded no contest in the case, officials said.

The Oscars had been shipped from Chicago by Roadway Transportation to a loading dock in Bell. They disappeared there on March 8, 2000, police said.

Outside of court Wednesday, Hart’s lawyer, Richard Millard, said Hart, an eight-year employee of Roadway, was incorrectly identified as the person seen near the loading dock where the statuettes were located.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Marc Chomel said a witness would have given testimony implicating Hart.

Millard said Hart accepted the plea agreement because of the uncertainties of a trial and the fact that he could have been sentenced to three years in prison if convicted.

All but three of the statuettes were recovered after Willie Fulgear, 61, said he found them while salvaging for junk in a Koreatown trash bin near his home on March 18, 2000.

Fulgear received a $50,000 reward and a ticket to last year’s Academy Awards ceremony.