Florida art dealer sentenced to nearly four years for scheme to sell fake Warhols

South Florida art dealer Leslie Howard Roberts has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for a scheme involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol artworks. A Miami federal court sentenced him this month to three years and 10 months after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He must also repay nearly US$2.6 million he earned from the scheme.

Roberts, 63, owned Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove and was arrested in April 2025. Court records say he falsely represented the works as originals created by Warhol, and prosecutors said he claimed to have acquired them directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. He also supplied fake invoices, according to prosecutors.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones said in a statement that Roberts exploited collectors’ trust in art dealers and in the authenticity of the works they buy.

Investigators said Carlos Rodriguez Melendez, a co-conspirator, posed as an employee of a New York-based auction company and falsely authenticated artwork to conceal that it was forged. Rodriguez Melendez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last year and was sentenced to probation.

Another South Florida art dealer was sentenced in 2023 to two years and three months in federal prison for selling fake Warhols. Daniel Elie Bouaziz, who owned two galleries in Palm Beach County, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. Prosecutors agreed to drop 16 other counts related to fraud and embezzlement.

Warhol was an American visual artist and filmmaker best known for his association with the 1960s pop art movement.