--- description: Federal and local agents recovered the works following an undercover operation in October title: 9 Paintings in Big L.A. Art Heist Are Recovered image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 9 Paintings in Big L.A. Art Heist Are Recovered by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2014 2:08 AM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2014 2:08 AM CUT Court documents show local and federal authorities have [recovered](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-huge-la-art-heist-cracked-20141217-story.html "undefined") nine works of art that were stolen during a 2008 California heist, one of the largest in Los Angeles history. Los Angeles police and the FBI launched an undercover operation after being tipped off in September about a man in Europe who was said to be soliciting buyers for the art, which was valued at $10 million but going for $700,000, the Los Angeles _Times_ reports. The works recovered include Diego Rivera’s “Peasants” and a piece by Marc Chagall. They were among a dozen stolen from the home of a wealthy real estate investor in August 2008; three were still missing as of Dec. 1. Raul Espinoza, 45, was charged with one count of receiving stolen property following the October bust and being held on $5 million bail. He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on Oct. 27. [\[Los Angeles ](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-huge-la-art-heist-cracked-20141217-story.html "undefined")[_Times_](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-huge-la-art-heist-cracked-20141217-story.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3639316/los-angeles-art-heist-cracked/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3639316/los-angeles-art-heist-cracked/"},"headline":"9 Paintings in Big L.A. Art Heist Are Recovered","datePublished":"2014-12-18T02:08:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:57:48.055Z","description":"Authorities were tipped off about a man in Europe soliciting buyers","url":"https://time.com/3639316/los-angeles-art-heist-cracked/","keywords":["Crime","los angeles","Art","cities","justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3639316/los-angeles-art-heist-cracked/","name":"9 Paintings in Big L.A. Art Heist Are Recovered"}}]}] ```