Miami Art Dealer Sentenced to Nearly Four Years for Warhol Forgery Scheme

Key points

• Leslie Howard Roberts, owner of Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced in October 2026.
• Roberts was arrested in April 2025 after prosecutors alleged he falsely claimed to have acquired works directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
• The scheme involved providing fake invoices and misrepresenting forgeries as original Warhol pieces to collectors.
• Roberts must pay back approximately $2.6 million in restitution earned from the fraudulent sales.
• Carlos Rodriguez Melendez, who posed as an employee of a New York auction house to authenticate the forgeries, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to probation.
• U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones stated that Roberts exploited the trust collectors place in art dealers regarding authenticity.

Background

This case follows a 2023 federal prison sentence for Daniel Elie Bouaziz, a Palm Beach County gallery owner convicted of money laundering related to fake Warhol sales. Andy Warhol, the subject of these forgeries, was a prominent American pop artist from the 1960s. The current sentencing highlights ongoing enforcement efforts against art fraud in South Florida.

Why it matters

The conviction underscores the financial and legal risks associated with art market fraud, particularly when dealers leverage institutional trust and forged documentation to deceive high-value collectors. It also demonstrates federal authorities' continued focus on prosecuting wire fraud in the art world.

What to watch

Roberts will serve his sentence in federal prison and is required to pay the restitution amount. No further legal actions regarding this specific scheme are currently reported, though the case may serve as a precedent for similar fraud investigations in the art market.