Defendant Pleads Guilty in Warhol Theft Case

A former resident of downtown Los Angeles pleaded guilty Tuesday to acting as an intermediary in the planned auction of an Andy Warhol print worth at least $175,000 that vanished from a home in Los Angeles.

Brian Alec Light, 58, entered his plea to one federal count of interstate transportation of stolen goods, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to court papers, the Warhol print — a trial proof depicting former Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin that was print number 44 of 46 that Warhol made — was taken from the home in early 2021.

The victim informed law enforcement of its theft soon after, as well as the original gallery in West Hollywood that sold him the artwork. Days after the theft, the thief brought the print to a pawnshop, which purchased it. The pawnshop's owner contacted Light for help selling the artwork, which Light knew was stolen, according to the defendant's plea agreement.

Light contacted an auction house to sell the print within weeks of its theft. Light told the pawnshop owner to drop off the print at the auction house in Beverly Hills so it could be transported to Dallas for inspection and sale, which the pawnshop owner did, federal prosecutors said.

The auction house shipped the artwork to Dallas where it was to be inspected and included in an upcoming auction in the spring of 2021. An employee of the auction house in Dallas reached out to the gallery in West Hollywood for its opinion of the piece, and the gallery immediately recognized the piece as the stolen artwork.

As a result, prosecutors said, the gallery notified the auction house of its stolen nature and alerted the FBI. When authorities questioned Light about it, he lied and created a fake receipt purporting to show that he bought the print before it was stolen, according to the plea agreement filed in L.A. federal court.

Light will face up to 10 years in federal prison at sentencing on Feb. 18, prosecutors said.

As part of his plea, Light will forfeit the stolen artwork retrieved by law enforcement.