A Greek court on Tuesday threw out criminal charges against a former curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles accused of illegally obtaining an ancient gold wreath.

A three-judge panel ruled that the statute of limitations for criminal charges against Marion True, 59, had expired. She was not in court.

True had denied illegally obtaining the 4th century B.C. funerary wreath that was allegedly unearthed at an illegal dig in northern Greece. It was purchased by the Getty museum in 1993, while she was antiquities curator there.

Under stringent Greek laws, it is illegal to possess, buy, sell or unearth ancient artifacts without a permit.

The wreath was returned to Greece in March, and it was handed to the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum in northern Greece last Friday.

True still faces charges of illegally possessing at least a dozen antiquities found during a police raid on her holiday home on the Aegean island of Paros in April last year. No trial date has been set in that case.

She also faces charges in Italy, where she is accused of knowingly acquiring dozens of ancient artifacts that authorities maintain were stolen or unearthed illegally and smuggled out of Italy. She also denies those charges.