``Despite what you might think of me, I just went through a hard time in my life,'' Dancheck said. ``I wish I could replace everything. . . . I wish I could pay the entire amount, but I don't have that kind of money. I want to apologize to everybody.''
Dancheck, 28, of Croydon, was sentenced to five months in prison followed by three years of probation and was ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution, one-third of what government prosecutors had asked. U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Katz decided that Dancheck couldn't afford to pay more.
Dancheck and two accomplices pleaded guilty this year to charges of stealing major artwork from a museum. They were the first defendants in the region to be prosecuted under a new law that makes stealing cultural treasures a federal crime. David Wisen and Charles Cline will be sentenced later.
Dancheck's lawyer, Felicia Sarner, played down her client's role in the burglary, saying it was a ``thoughtless and haphazard'' act that he had no part in planning. Sarner said Dancheck was the lookout and didn't realize his cohorts were stealing from a museum. He did not enter the mansion, she said, nor did he help fence the items later. In fact, when he realized what had been stolen, she said, he panicked and tossed the objects into the Delaware River.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman said that Dancheck also had robbed houses and businesses during a three-month stretch.
Dancheck faces burglary charges in Bucks County in connection with several incidents, including a break-in at a house on County Line Road and the thefts of a grandfather clock and three lamps, Goldman said. He is also charged with stealing a 500-pound bell from the front of the Fallsington United Methodist Church in Falls Township.
