Former Miami Art Gallery Owner Sentenced for Warhol Art Fraud
A former Miami art gallery owner, Leslie Howard Roberts, has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison after admitting to selling counterfeit Andy Warhol artworks and defrauding buyers of approximately $2.58 million.
Tampa St. Petersburg, FL, October 13, 2026 — Leslie Howard Roberts, who formerly owned an art gallery in Miami, has received a federal prison sentence of nearly four years. The sentence comes after Roberts admitted to his role in selling counterfeit artworks attributed to the renowned artist Andy Warhol.
Roberts pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme, which defrauded buyers of approximately $2.58 million. The specifics of the gallery’s name and the exact timeline of the fraudulent sales were not detailed in the sentencing announcement.
The case involved the distribution of artworks that were not authentic creations by Andy Warhol. Investigations and subsequent legal proceedings determined Roberts’ culpability in perpetuating these sales to unsuspecting buyers. The total financial impact on those defrauded amounts to roughly $2.58 million.
The sentence reflects the severity of the financial fraud and the deception involved in selling counterfeit art. Further details regarding the investigation, including the number of individuals affected or the methods used to produce and sell the fakes, were not immediately available.
Story summarized from the original created by By Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald (TNS) on www.tampabay.com, see more information here.
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