After stealing almost $500,000 in prize money from a jazz composer and pianist, a suburban New York man is facing jail with a sentence of one to three years.
According to ABC News, Noel Muir, 55, and a contractor, has been sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty to larceny last month for stealing from Cecil Taylor, an 85-year old jazz pianist and composer. Muir is facing at least 1 to 3 years in prison after he wrongfully tried to steal a half a million dollars in prize money from Taylor. The money came from a Japanese foundation that awarded Taylor in 2013 Kyoto Prize. Muir's lawyer didn't respond to comments following the arrest of his client.
New York Times wrote that Muir befriend Taylor before the crime took place and the two met in Fort Green, Brooklyn while working on his browstone. Muir allegedly accompanied him to retrieve his award in November 2013, an award given to recognize cultural, scientific and spiritual achievements. Following this, Muir arranged the prize of $492, 722.55 to be deposited to his account in Citibank. However, Muir's action involved falsifying his account name and saying that it is the Cecil Taylor Foundation to the Inamori Foundation of Japan.
Muir has returned much of the $200,000 to the jazz musicia,n as reported by News Day. The Brooklyn's district attorney also said that there were arrangements in which the 55-year-old contractor from Long Island agreed to return the remaining $292, 722 that he stole from the musician.
Ken Thompson, the district attorney, said on Monday in a statement that the defendant, Noel Muir, 'shamefully bilked an elderly, vulnerable man." The prosecutor added that the defendant's action to pretend as Taylor's friend proved fake as the guilty plea and sentence shows that he's merely a thief trying to rip off a talented musician.
