A three-year-old case regarding a stolen bronze sculpture resurfaced in Blaine County 5th District Court last month after a businessman who admitted to possessing the stolen art treasure was charged with a new crime.
In a case separate from the art theft, 51-year-old Gary Goldberg was charged with grand theft on Dec. 4 for allegedly receiving payment twice for an automobile he had sold. Goldberg, a municipal bonds trader, is listed with a Sun Valley address in court documents.
He has now been charged with probation violation in the art theft case as a result of the recent grand theft charge.
Hailey attorney Michael Kraynick, who represents Goldberg, said the new charge resulted from "a mistake the bank made."
"To me, Zion's the one who made the mistake," Kraynick said. "Why should Goldberg be screwed for that?"
A probable-cause affidavit filed by Ketchum Detective R. Scott Manning stated that the new case against Goldberg dates back to November 2007 when he sold a vehicle for $19,000 to the Jerry Seiner Christopher Kia automobile dealership in Salt Lake City. Manning stated that Goldberg contacted the dealership in February 2008 and he hadn't received a check that was supposed to have been mailed to him. Goldberg was told, according to Manning, that a new check would be issued, that Goldberg was not to cash the first check if he received it and that a stop-payment order would be placed on it.
Manning wrote that Goldberg received and "negotiated" a new check later that month.
Manning alleged that Goldberg, however, took the original check to Zions Bank in Ketchum on Feb. 27, 2008 and "requested to negotiate it." Manning further wrote that bank teller Annie Kwok "made a mistake when entering the check's information and as a result she did not discover the stop payment."
Kraynick said Goldberg has since repaid the $19,000 to the automobile dealership and that his client did not intend to receive double payment.
"It's not really theft, and I think it's a big mistake," Kraynick said.
Goldberg was not arrested on the charge and was issued a court summons instead, meaning that he has not been jailed and has not posted bond. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 14 in Blaine County Magistrate Court.
In the older art theft case, Goldberg was arraigned on a probation violation charge on Dec. 29, 2008, in district court.
In October 2006, Goldberg was sentenced to three years probation and given a withheld judgment after pleading guilty to felony grand theft by possession of stolen property. The art piece is a bronze elk sculpture valued at $7,500 and believed to have been stolen from Kneeland Gallery in Ketchum during a Gallery Walk on Oct. 7, 2005.
A probable-cause affidavit filed by Ketchum police in the art theft case states that Goldberg claimed he purchased the sculpture from a "carload of Mexicans" for $500.
The withheld judgment that Goldberg received at sentencing can be dismissed by court order if Goldberg successfully meets the terms of his probation. The court retained the authority to sentence Goldberg to prison or jail time if probation is determined to have been violated.
Kraynick said the probation violation charge is an unproven allegation that will depend upon the outcome of the new criminal charge against his client.
An evidentiary hearing on the probation violation allegation is scheduled for March 31.
In Idaho, grand theft and grand theft by possession of stolen property are punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Gary Goldberg
