Miami art dealer sentenced to nearly 4 years for selling fake Warhols

A Miami art dealer has been sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison for a scheme involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol artworks, WRAL reported.

Leslie Howard Roberts, owner of Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, was arrested in April 2025 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to WRAL and mainlinemedianews.com.

Court records show Roberts falsely represented the artworks as original pieces by Warhol, claiming he acquired them directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and using fraudulent invoices, WRAL stated.

Roberts must also pay back nearly $2.6 million earned from the scheme, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida noted in a statement reported by WRAL.

As part of the conspiracy, another individual posed as an auction company employee to falsely authenticate the forged artworks, according to mainlinemedianews.com.

This case follows a similar 2023 conviction of another South Florida art dealer sentenced for selling fake Warhols, highlighting ongoing concerns about art fraud in the region.