Florida art dealer gets nearly 4 years in prison for scheme to sell fake Andy Warhol artworks He must also pay back nearly $2.6 million that he earned from the scheme

A South Florida art dealer has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for a scheme that involved selling fake Andy Warhol artworks.

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Leslie Howard Roberts, 63, was sentenced in Miami federal court this month to three years and 10 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He must also pay back nearly $2.6 million that he earned from the scheme.

Roberts, the owner of Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, was arrested in April 2025. According to court records, he fraudulently represented art as original pieces created by renowned artist Andy Warhol. Prosecutors said Roberts falsely claimed that he acquired the artwork directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and provided fake and fraudulent invoices.

Brownie Harris American Pop artist Andy Warhol sits in front of several paintings in his 'Endangered Species' series at his studio, the Factory, in Union Square, New York, New York, April 12, 1983.

 He exploited the trust that collectors place in art dealers and the authenticity of the works they purchase,  U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones said in a statement.

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

Carl Court A photographer takes pictures of a painting by Andy Warhol entitled 'Reigning Queens (Royal Edition): Queen Elizabeth II Of The United Kingdom' during a photocall to mark the launch of the  Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography  exhibition At The King's Gallery in Buckingham Palace on May 16, 2024, in London, England.

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