The Cleveland Museum of Art on Friday agreed return to Turkey an ancient statue worth $20 million that the New York District Attorney’s Office said was looted.
“Michael Howell will now serve a prison sentence for his attacks on three New Yorkers with glass bottles,” said District Attorney Bragg. “These were scary, random assaults that occurred at a busy time of evening, and we will not tolerate these types of violent attacks on Manhattanites. I know many of the victims are still living with the trauma of the attacks and I hope this sentencing can provide them a measure of closure.”
“I am pleased the Cleveland Museum of Art agrees that this statue belongs to the people of Türkiye. This investigation included extensive witness interviews and forensic testing that proved conclusively this antiquity was looted from Bubon. I appreciate the museum’s cooperation throughout this matter, which is illustrative of how we can work together to ensure that looted antiquities are in the possession of its rightful owners. Our extensive investigation into the widespread and historic looting at Bubon has now led to 15 antiquities recovered for the people of Türkiye, and I thank our team of prosecutors, analysts, and investigators for their hard work,” said District Attorney Bragg.
Towering bronzes depicting emperors once graced an ancient shrine in a region of what is now Turkey that was once part of Rome’s extended empire. Installed between around A.D. 50 and 250 to venerate imperial power, the statues were later buried by earthquakes only to be discovered and quietly sold by local farmers in the 1960s.
Jayqwan Hamilton, Robert DeMaio and Jacob Barroso “lurked outside of nightclubs to exploit intoxicated individuals. They would give them drugs, laced with fentanyl, to incapacitate their victims so they could take the victims’ phones and drain their online financial accounts,” according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
