A court in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, sentenced Thursday a defendant to five years in prison for the theft of 77 exhibits from the Hermitage Museum, the RIA-Novosti news agency reports.

The Hermitage, a palace in St. Petersburg built by Catherine II and now used as an art museum, announced at the end of July 2006 that 221 items, including icons, medieval and 19th-century jewelry, and silverware and enamels, had been stolen from its Russian section. The theft of items worth a total of around $5 million was discovered during a routine check.

A total of 31 items have been found to date.

The defendant, Nikolai Zavadsky, is the husband of Larisa Zavadskaya, a museum employee who died during the check.

The judge said that Zavadsky “had persuaded his wife to commit this crime”. Lidia Zavadskaya openly carried the exhibits away from the museum and her husband helped her sell them to antique and pawn shops.

The court took into account a number of mitigating circumstances, including the defendant’s confession and poor health. Zavadsky will serve his five-year term at a standard penal colony.

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