Hayden O’Byrne United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida | The Florida Bar
Leslie Roberts, a 62-year-old resident of Miami, faces federal charges related to a scheme involving forged art pieces purported to be created by the renowned artist Andy Warhol. Miami resident Roberts, along with 37-year-old Carlos Miguel Rodriguez Melendez of Sunny Isles, has been implicated in a wire fraud conspiracy aimed at selling the counterfeit art.
According to a federal indictment, Roberts operated out of the Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, fraudulently claiming that the art pieces were original works by Warhol. Additionally, Roberts allegedly deceived buyers by claiming he acquired the pieces directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, supporting his claims with fraudulent invoices. Meanwhile, Rodriguez Melendez is accused of posing as an employee of a New York-based auction company to provide false authentication, thereby masking the fraudulent nature of the artworks.
Money laundering charges are also leveled against Roberts, with allegations of transferring wire fraud proceeds from his gallery's bank account to a personal account. Specific transactions cited include sums of $150,000, $40,000, and $50,000.
Both Roberts and Melendez were arrested by law enforcement on April 9, 2025, and have since been released on bond following their initial court appearance. Their arraignment is scheduled for April 21. If convicted of wire fraud conspiracy, both face up to 20 years in prison, while Roberts faces an additional potential sentence of 10 years if found guilty of money laundering. Sentencing decisions rest with a federal district court judge, taking into account U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hayden P. O’Byrne, and Brett Skiles, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Miami Field Office, announced the charges. The FBI Art Crime Team, in conjunction with the FBI West Palm Beach, conducted the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman and Joshua Paster prosecuting the case. Joshua Paster also oversees asset forfeiture processes.
As a reminder, an indictment is only an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Court documents and further case details are available on the Southern District of Florida District Court website.
