Plea talks underway in case over stolen Courbet painting

A Connecticut man accused of defrauding a New York gallery out of a Gustave Courbet painting is in plea talks with federal prosecutors, according to recent Manhattan federal court documents.

Thomas Doyle’s lawyer asked U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian this month to delay a scheduled status conference by about 30 days, saying the defense and prosecutors needed more time to discuss whether the case could be resolved before trial.

“The parties are engaged in plea discussions and require additional time to determine whether this matter may be resolved short of pretrial litigation and trial,” Federal Defender Joy Chen wrote in a May 14 letter. Prosecutors consented to the request, according to the letter.

Subramanian granted the request May 18 and rescheduled the conference for June 24 at 2 p.m. in Manhattan federal court, according to the docket. The judge also paused the speedy trial clock between May 20 and June 24, saying the delay would allow both sides to discuss a possible resolution before trial.

It was Doyle’s third request to delay a conference in the case. A similar April 16 letter said the parties were engaged in plea discussions. A March order said an earlier delay would give both sides time to review evidence and discuss a possible resolution before trial, according to the docket.

Doyle, 68, was indicted in November on one count of wire fraud. He pleaded not guilty on November 18, according to the docket. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if he is convicted.

Prosecutors accused Doyle of carrying out a scheme for more than two years to defraud Matthiesen Gallery out of Courbet’s Mother and Child on a Hammock, Urgent Matter previously reported.

The gallery was not named in the indictment, but Matthiesen Gallery identified itself last year when it filed a federal lawsuit against Doyle.

Doyle allegedly first introduced himself to Patrick Matthiesen in a December 2022 email and later claimed he managed the “art side” of a family trust with assets worth billions of dollars, according to prosecutors.

In June 2024, Matthiesen allegedly agreed to let Doyle take custody of the Courbet painting to show it to a potential buyer. The next month, Matthiesen allegedly authorized Doyle to sell the work on his behalf for $550,000, Urgent Matter previously reported.

Instead, prosecutors said, Doyle allegedly had the painting delivered to his business partner, Shalva Sarukhanishvili, and fabricated a false provenance for the work. Sarukhanishvili then allegedly sold it to Jill Newhouse Gallery for $115,000 in early October 2024, and later paid Doyle $109,250.

Doyle “never remitted” any proceeds from the sale to Matthiesen, prosecutors said in the indictment.

By February 2025, prosecutors said, Doyle had spent the proceeds from the painting on personal expenses and debts. He later blamed the delay in payment on the purported buyer, then admitted to Matthiesen in March that he had “betrayed” and “lied” to him about the painting, prosecutors said.

Matthiesen’s civil lawsuit also names Jill Newhouse Gallery and Landau as defendants. Attorneys for the gallery and Landau called the claims against them meritless in comments to ARTnews after the lawsuit was filed.

Doyle was previously convicted in another art fraud case involving Jean Baptiste-Camille Corot’s Portrait of a Girl. He was sentenced to six years in prison in that case.

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