PALM BEACH, Fla.—A former Marine living in Florida has confessed to the burglary of a number of works by Picasso and Chagall, which he then sold in order to earn enough money to maintain his former lifestyle. Having apparently run into financial troubles, Marcus Patmon broke into the Washington, D.C. Galerie Lareuse in 2007 and took two artworks, The Meeting of Ruth & Boaz, a lithograph by Marc Chagall, and Faune Devoilant une Femme by Pablo Picasso. Patmon successfully sold the first to a New York gallery and the latter to a California dealer three months later, but when he tried to sell the dealer a second Picasso etching, Le Repas Frugal, in July 2008, she became suspicious and contacted authorities.

Patmon pleaded guilty to the robbery at both Galerie Lareuse and another gallery, Gallery Biba in Palm Beach, Florida. He also confessed to succeeding in making money from stolen artwork in the past. He was caught after attempting to sell work to a federal agent posing as a possible buyer, and now faces up to 20 years in prison.

Read more at the Delaware News Journal.