A South Florida art dealer will spend nearly four years in federal prison after admitting to a scheme involving counterfeit Andy Warhol artworks.
Leslie Howard Roberts, 63, was sentenced this month in Miami federal court to three years and 10 months behind bars. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Roberts was also ordered to repay nearly $2.6 million in proceeds tied to the scheme.
Roberts owned Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove and was arrested in April 2025. Court records state that he marketed fraudulent works as authentic pieces by Andy Warhol.
Federal prosecutors said Roberts falsely told buyers that he had obtained the artwork directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. He also supplied invoices that had been fabricated or otherwise falsified.
“He exploited the trust that collectors place in art dealers and the authenticity of the works they purchase,” US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones said in a statement.
Investigators said Carlos Rodriguez Melendez played a role in the conspiracy by pretending to work for a New York auction company. In that false capacity, he authenticated the artwork and helped obscure the fact that the pieces were forged.
Rodriguez Melendez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last year and received a sentence of probation.
The case follows another South Florida prosecution involving counterfeit Warhol art. In 2023, a different dealer was sentenced to two years and three months in federal prison for selling fake works attributed to the artist.
Daniel Elie Bouaziz, who operated two galleries in Palm Beach County, pleaded guilty to one money-laundering charge. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss 16 additional counts involving fraud and embezzlement.
Warhol was an American visual artist and filmmaker best known for his influential role in the 1960s pop art movement.
