Pawn shop owner tries selling stolen Andy Warhol proof worth $175K in CA, feds say
A pawn shop owner who got ahold of a one-of-a-kind Andy Warhol print trial proof worth about $175,000 is accused of trying to sell it to a California auction house, despite knowing it was stolen, federal prosecutors said.
The pawn shop owner, who was based in Los Angeles at the time, knowingly bought the stolen print portraying Russian revolutionary and former Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin for $6,000 in 2021, according to an April 22 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
He is charged with conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen goods, according to the release.
His attorney information was not immediately available.
After buying the print in February 2021, the man asked a 58-year-old co-conspirator, who is charged in a separate indictment, to help him sell it, prosecutors said.
Expecting to earn money from the sale, the co-conspirator contacted the Beverly Hills office of Dallas-based Heritage Auctions to try and sell the print, according to his plea agreement.
Although Heritage Auctions was not named in court documents, a spokesperson confirmed to McClatchy News its involvement.
“Provenance and authenticity are of utmost importance in every category at Heritage Auctions, which coordinates with law enforcement, independent authenticators and reputable dealers in the fine art community and beyond,” Heritage Auctions told McClatchy News in an April 23 email. “Heritage does not sell property without multiple experts’ assertions that lots are what they are reported to be.”
In March, the pawn shop owner dropped the print off at the auction house, prosecutors said. He also signed a consignment agreement and called the auction house asking about advancing a cash payment.
However, when the auction house reached out to a local gallery to verify the print, it was recognized as stolen and reported it to the FBI, prosecutors said.
The highly-sought-after print was identified as number 44 out of a series of 46 and had been taken earlier that year from a home in Los Angeles County, according to court documents. The owner reported the theft to law enforcement and the gallery where it was purchased.
According to prosecutors, both men lied to the FBI on separate occasions when questioned about the print.
The co-conspirator gave the FBI a fake receipt showing he purchased the print at a garage sale for $18,000, and the pawn shop owner said he was simply storing the print “out of friendship,” prosecutors said.
In November, the co-conspirator pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods, prosecutors said. He is set to be sentenced May 27 and faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and a special assessment fee of $100.
Prosecutors said the pawn shop owner will be arraigned “in the coming weeks.”
The FBI’s Art Crime team continues investigating the case.
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Pawn shop owner tries selling stolen Andy Warhol proof worth $175K in CA, feds say."
