Ex-housecleaner busted in $3M bust burglary

[Hum]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? A rare bust of Benjamin Franklin with an estimated value of $3 million has been recovered almost a month after it was stolen from a home in a Philadelphia suburb.

The rare artwork was recovered Friday when authorities arrested a former house cleaner, owner George D'Angelo said. Made in 1778 by Jean-Antoine Houdon while Franklin was visiting Paris, it is one of three known to exist.

The 25-pound, 28-inch-high bust was stolen Aug. 24 from its pedestal in the drawing room of D'Angelo's home in Bryn Mawr, a suburb on Philadelphia's affluent Main Line. A woman who briefly worked for D'Angelo's cleaning service was seen speeding away from the scene.

The FBI confirmed the arrest of Andrea Lawton, 46, and the recovery of the bust. D'Angelo said Lawton was carrying the bust in a duffel bag when she was arrested as she got off a bus in Elkton, Md., after departing from her hometown of Mobile, Alabama.

Lawton, also known as Andrea Gresham, is in federal custody on charges of theft, fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property, according to papers filed in federal court in Philadelphia.

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[Growled Member]

So the butler didn't do it?

[Hum]

Don't know where she was planning to sell the bust.

[Growled Member]

Don't know where she was planning to sell the bust.

There always seem to be buyers for illegal stuff.