Florida art dealer jailed for selling fake Andy Warhol artworks

A South Florida art dealer has been sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison for running a scheme to sell counterfeit Andy Warhol artworks. The New York Post, The Washington Post, WPEC, and the Ottumwa Courier all reported that Leslie Howard Roberts, 63, was sentenced in Miami federal court this month. Roberts pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. [1][2][3][4]

The New York Post reported that Roberts was also ordered to pay back nearly 2.6 million dollars that he earned through the fraud scheme. Roberts was the owner of Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, Florida, and was arrested in April 2025. [1]

According to court records cited by the New York Post, Roberts fraudulently presented the art pieces as original works created by Andy Warhol. Prosecutors said that Roberts falsely claimed he had acquired the artwork directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation. [1]

Warhol was an American pop art artist and filmmaker who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August 1928 to Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants. His practice spanned painting, filmmaking, photography, and publishing, and his work explored advertising and consumerism before his death. [5][7]