FILE PHOTO: Brian Walshe is pictured in this undated Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) photo contained in court papers filed by federal prosecutors in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., on May 9, 2018. Courtesy RMV via U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the District of Massachusetts/Handout via REUTERS
BOSTON 鈥� A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges that he stole Andy Warhol paintings from a former college classmate living in South Korea and used them to produce forgeries that he sold.
Brian Walshe, 46, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to three counts, including a wire fraud charge, related to Warhol forgeries he sold to a Los Angeles gallery鈥檚 owner in 2016.
He faces sentencing on August 2. Under a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend a prison term at the low end of the 30 to 37 months he faces under federal sentencing guidelines.
Walshe also agreed to forfeit the original Warhol paintings, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Moran said are now in the Federal Bureau of Investigation鈥檚 possession. He also agreed to pay $195,000 in restitution to two victims.
Prosecutors said that in 2011, Walshe visited a former Carnegie Mellon University classmate and his family in South Korea and offered to sell some of their art, including two Warhol paintings from his 鈥淪hadow鈥� series.
The art also included a Warhol 鈥淒ollar Sign鈥� painting, two prints by artist Keith Haring and a Chinese statuette.
Prosecutors said Walshe sold the 鈥淒ollar Sign鈥� painting for $40,000 through the Christie鈥檚 auction house but never passed along the money. He then paid someone to make copies of the 鈥淪hadows鈥� paintings, prosecutors said.
They said Walshe sold forged 鈥淪hadow鈥� paintings to a Parisian art consultant for $145,000 and a likely fake 鈥淒ollar Sign鈥� to his own dentist for $23,000.
Walshe also sold fake 鈥淪hadow鈥� paintings to the California gallery owner for $80,000 after listing them on eBay with the claim that he 鈥渙verpaid terribly鈥� when he bought them in 2007 for $240,000, authorities said.
After the gallery owner realized they were forged, Walshe refunded him $30,000 but no more, prosecutors said.