Hoboken Art Thief Charged with Grand Larceny; Denied Bail

was indicted on Friday afternoon in Manhattan criminal court, according to a press release from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office.

Lugo was charged with grand larceny and posession of stolen property on Friday afternoon.

The district attorney's office said that in June, 2011, Lugo walked into the Chambers Hotel in Midtown Manhattan and put into a canvas tote bag a set of five paintings entitled “Pastel on Board” by Mie Yim, which were sold to the hotel for $1,800 each.

Later that same month, Lugo allegedly did the same at the Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan's Upper East Side and put into his canvas tote bag a sketch that was being stored in the gallery’s employee entrance area. This sketch is entitled “Composition With Mechanical Elements” by Fernand Leger and is worth approximately $350,000.

"On July 14, 2011," the Manhattan DA announced, "working with New Jersey authorities, the New York City Police Department found the six stolen art pieces hanging on the walls of Lugo's Hoboken apartment."

"In an effort to display stolen art in his apartment, this repeat art thief boldly walked out of two Manhattan hotels in broad daylight with valuable paintings," Vance said in the press release.