Vengeful Housekeeper Sentenced for Ben Franklin Theft

A housekeeper has been sentenced to six years in federal prison in the theft of a Benjamin Franklin bust stolen in suburban Philadelphia and reportedly worth $3 million.
 
Andrea Lawton, 47, of Mobile, Ala., was living in Philadelphia when the bust was taken Aug. 24 from a home where she had worked as a housecleaner. She fled to Alabama with the bust and was arrested Sept. 21 in Elkton, Md., where she planned to sell it.
 
Lawton pleaded guilty in December to a federal charge of interstate transportation of stolen property. She pleaded guilty in April to a separate state charge of burglary.
 
The 25-pound bust was made by French artist Jean-Antoine Houdon while Franklin visited Paris in 1778.
 
It was broken while in Lawton's possession and is being repaired. Police say Lawton stole the bust because she had been fired and was angry at her boss. Police also say Lawton was told it was valuable and wanted to get her boss fired.