A 45-year-old defendant pleaded no contest on Feb. 13 to one count of receiving stolen property for attempting to sell stolen artwork valued at millions of dollars, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has announced.

Deputy District Attorney Marna Miller said the defendant, Raul Espinoza, also admitted that the crime involved the theft of more than $500,000. Espinoza was immediately sentenced to four years and four months in state prison.

A restitution hearing is scheduled on March 25 in Department C of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Airport Branch.

Espinoza met with undercover FBI agents on Oct. 24 and agreed to sell them nine paintings valued at more than $5 million, the prosecutor said.

The paintings had been stolen from a home in Encino in 2008. The case was investigated by the FBI.