Jackson Pollock

Thomas Trotta also details Keystone College theft, his criminal background and his friendship with other accused ring members.

Trooper Kyle Hnat said he took care to corroborate statements that ring leader Thomas Trotta. Eventually, police dropped him as a confidential informant because he kept committing burglaries, testimony shows.

Presiding judge says the case will last into February. Prosecutors say the theft ring operated in six states and the District of Columbia between 1999 and 2019 and collected hundreds of thousands in loot.

A suspect in an interstate art and memorabilia theft ring can keep his existing lawyer, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. During a hearing in a Scranton federal courtroom, Joseph Atsus, 53, of Roaring Brook Township, Lackawanna County, formally waived his right to potential future court appeals based on the possibility that his lawyer, Attorney Patrick A. Casey, has a conflict of interest.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Buchanan's admission at a court hearing Tuesday adds to the doubt about the painting's authenticity.