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Woman Gets 31/2 Years for Va. Art
Thefts

[FINAL Edition]

The Washington Post - Washington, D.C.

Author:

Elaine Rivera

Date:

Apr 30, 2004

Start Page:

B.04

Section:

METRO

Text Word Count:

480

A 47-year-old District woman was sentenced yesterday in
Alexandria Circuit Court to 31/2 years in prison for the theft last
year of paintings and other valuable art objects from galleries in
Old Town.

Sharon J. Walker pleaded guilty in March to six counts of grand
larceny in the theft of items valued at $17,250, including a
porcelain vase, an antique teapot and a still life of two pears.

Circuit Court Judge John E. Kloch ordered Walker to be placed on
five years' probation after she serves her sentence and to pay
restitution for items that were not recovered. He said his ruling
was influenced by her criminal history, which includes 20 aliases
and 10 Social Security numbers.

"I have to look at the cold, hard facts," Kloch said in
admonishing Walker. "You engaged in a life of crime. You had the
intellect not to do it."

Joni Ruff, Walker's attorney, had argued for a more lenient
sentence, saying her client had been battling a 25-year drug
addiction and is undergoing treatment at the Alexandria jail.

"She's never undergone any kind of substantive drug treatment
before," Ruff said.

Ruff also told the judge that Walker had risked her life in an
attempt to save three children from a fire at a D.C. home. She
suffered serious burns and needed skin grafts after the fire, which
killed one of the children, Ruff said.

"She has bandages on her legs today because of failed skin graft
surgeries," Ruff said. Walker also was very cooperative with police
after her arrest, she said.

Walker was arrested after police received an anonymous tip from a
caller who recognized her from a surveillance camera photograph.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Molly Sullivan argued that the
judge should impose a stiff sentence, noting that Walker had a good
upbringing and came from an intact home with loving parents.

"There are no excuses for the defendant -- why she got off
track," Sullivan said, noting that Walker took advantage of the
friendly and open atmosphere of the galleries. "She exploited it to
steal thousands of dollars' worth of art objects," she said of the
thefts in March, April and October last year.

The prosecutor also read a victim impact statement from Lois
Boyles, co-owner of Studio Antiques and Fine Art in Old Town. Walker
took two paintings from Boyles's studio -- one of the old Loews
Capital Theater in Washington, the other of kittens and a butterfly.
Police recovered the theater painting.

"Over the 22 years we have been in business . . . we have prided
ourselves on being open, accessible and friendly to all who come to
our door regardless of age, race or other physical appearances,"
Boyles said in the statement. "I now feel that I must be ever
vigilant and on my guard, and I am distressed that this might
communicate itself to new and potential customers."

Reproduced with permission of the copyright
owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without
permission.

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