Ex-assistant to Jasper Johns gets prison for stealing artwork from studio, trying to sell it

A former Jasper Johns assistant will spend 18 months behind bars for stealing artworks from the pop artist's Connecticut studio and arranging for them to be sold at a gallery.

James Meyer, of Salisbury, Connecticut, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in New York City.

He was Johns' studio assistant for over 25 years.

He told the judge he removed 22 pieces from Johns' studio in Sharon without the artist's permission so he could sell them at a gallery.

He pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of stolen property.

Prosecutors say the art was sold by a Manhattan gallery for $6.5 million after Meyer provided the owner with fictitious authentication papers. They say Meyer got half the proceeds.