Florida Art Dealer Sentenced to Nearly Four Years for Andy Warhol Forgery Scheme
Leslie Howard Roberts must also pay back nearly $2.6 million earned from selling fake artworks.
A South Florida art dealer has been sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison for a scheme involving the sale of counterfeit Andy Warhol artworks. Leslie Howard Roberts, 63, was also ordered to forfeit nearly $2.6 million obtained through the fraudulent operation.
Roberts, the owner of Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, was arrested in April 2025. Prosecutors stated that he falsely presented artworks as original pieces by the renowned pop artist Andy Warhol, claiming they were acquired directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and providing fabricated invoices to support these claims. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones said Roberts "exploited the trust that collectors place in art dealers and the authenticity of the works they purchase."
As part of the conspiracy, Carlos Rodriguez Melendez acted as an employee of a New York-based auction company, providing false authentication for the forged artwork. Rodriguez Melendez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last year and received a sentence of probation.
In a separate but related case, another South Florida art dealer, Daniel Elie Bouaziz, was sentenced in 2023 to two years and three months in federal prison for his role in selling fake Warhols. Bouaziz, who owned two galleries in Palm Beach County, had pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, with prosecutors agreeing to drop 16 other charges including fraud and embezzlement. Andy Warhol was a pivotal American artist known for his association with the pop art movement of the 1960s.