This afternoon marked the historic arrest of former President Donald Trump, the first person elected to the highest office in the United States to face criminal charges. But before the former commander-in-chief entered 100 Center Street to enter his plea of not guilty to 34 counts, Judge Juan Merchan also oversaw the appearance of an alleged art thief charged with ‘stolen nine paintings from a West Village townhouse.
The accused is a 49-year-old Raymond Bouderau, and the charge is one count of second-degree burglary. He was arraigned in criminal court on December 1, with bond set at $75,000 cash or $100,000 bond. After the appearance of today’s calendar, Bouderau, a film producer whose most publicized credit is in the 2020s Bill and Ted face the music– is due back in court on May 2.
As of press time, neither Bouderau’s attorney, Elena Fast, nor the assistant prosecutor handling the case, Ana Sophia Radolinski, had responded to requests from Artnet News.
Bouderau was charged separately along with his girlfriend, Jacqueline Jewett, 57, with the burglary of a home in South Hampton. Both residences belong to the same victim, and Bouderau allegedly took more than a million dollars in art, jewelry and money, as well as more than two cases of wine, 750 grams of a substance that tested positive for ketamine, and a AR-15 rifle and other guns.
Raymond Bouderau, left, and Jacqueline Jewett are accused of stealing artwork and other valuables worth more than $1 million from homes in New York and Sag Harbor. Photo courtesy of the Suffolk County Attorney.
“The investigation into these alleged crimes has revealed a criminal plan that reads like a movie script, a bad movie script,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a press conference in December. , as reported news day. “Jewett and Bouderau were involved in an on-again, off-again boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. They targeted the victim because she was in a relationship with Jewett’s ex-lover.
Both crimes took place on September 25, when the victim – Jewett’s former boyfriend’s significant other – was out of town. Bouderau was identified as a suspect using CCTV footage and license plate readers which proved that a van registered in his name was near the two crime scenes.
Prosecutors believe Jewett used her ex-boyfriend’s iCloud account to obtain details of the victim’s homes and property that the couple used to carry out the robbery.
“[The victim] returned home and found that one of the windows had been tampered with and the cellar door was unlocked,” Detective Joseph Metsopulos said in the Manhattan robbery complaint. “Nine paintings were taken from the house and no one had permission or authority to take or possess these items.”
Police found that in Sag Harbor the burglars smashed a basement window, cut power lines and tripped circuit breakers to gain access to the house. The culprits ransacked the house.
Authorities recovered much of the property stolen from the Sag Harbor home during a raid on Bouderau’s Manhattan apartment on November 30. To date, there are no details about the artists who created the stolen paintings, or if these are still missing.
Raymond Bouderau in 2018. Photo by Nick Mele, ©Patrick McMullan.
“Photos of artwork and some stolen materials were found on Bouderau’s phone, and it is believed he was looking at various artworks to try to determine their value,” Tierney said, as noted. reported on Daily Mail.
In Suffolk County, Bouderau faces additional charges of first-degree grand larceny, second-degree burglary and fourth-degree conspiracy. Jewett is charged with first-degree grand larceny and second-degree burglary. In December, Judge Steven Tekulsky ordered Bouderau’s detention without bail.
“Life isn’t like the movies. These defendants thought it would be a good idea to go on a ‘heist’, in which they secretly gathered criminal intelligence on their wealthy target, orchestrated unlawful trespassing at two locations and grabbed over $1 million in revenue,” Tierney said, as reported by Patch. “Fortunately, unlike the movies, Suffolk County law enforcement is not sitting idly by and together investigators from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, New York State Police and the Department Sag Harbor police were able to quickly resolve this matter. ”
On Tuesday, Bouderau’s court appearance was in Part F, the same room where Trump pleaded not guilty hours later. The former president has been indicted on charges stemming from a $130,000 payment made during his 2016 campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels, to stop him from publicizing their previous sexual relationship.
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