It’s no secret that the East End of Long Island—the second home capital of the New York area—contains a great deal of art locked in homes that are often unoccupied. So it isn’t such a surprise that a workman has been arrested and sentenced to 6 years in jail for stealing some $600,000 in art or 30 different valuable items.

What’s curious about the story is the tone of disbelief that the young laborer could have selected the works himself without the advice of an accomplice:

“Nobody believes that this defendant was working by himself,” Suffolk District Attorney Tom Spota said during a press conference announcing the arrest of 24-year-old Angel Palencia, who was indicted on multiple counts of felony burglary and one grand larceny charge. “He certainly wasn’t running around to houses in East Hampton and looking in windows.”

But in entering a guilty plea on all counts on November 15, Mr. Palencia insisted he had acted alone.

Art Thief to Get Six Years (Shelter Island Reporter)