How A Stolen Warhol Caper Unraveled In L.A.

LOS ANGELES, CA — A scheme to sell a stolen Andy Warhol print of Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin quickly unraveled, and now a former Los Angeles man has agreed to plead guilty for his role in the affair, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Brian Alec Light, 58, has agreed to a plea deal in which he will plead guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods, according to the justice department. Light is a former resident of Los Angeles, where the original heist took place, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors don't believe Light is the thief who stole the Warhol print — a trial proof depicting former Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin and was print number 44 of 46 total by Warhol — in early 2022 from a home in Los Angeles County.

But Light played a role in trying to sell the ill-gotten print worth about $170,000, according to prosecutors.

After being burglarized, the victim informed law enforcement of its theft as well as the original gallery in West Hollywood that sold him the artwork, according to investigators.

"Days after the theft, the thief brought the artwork to a pawnshop, which purchased it. The pawnshop’s owner contacted Light for help selling the artwork, which Light knew was stolen," prosecutors allege. "Light contacted an auction house to sell the print within weeks of its theft. Light told the pawnshop owner to drop off the Warhol at the auction house in Beverly Hills so that it could be transported to Dallas for inspection and sale, which the pawnshop owner did."

The art was slated for auction in Dallas a few months later.

"An employee of the auction house in Dallas reached out to the gallery in West Hollywood for its opinion of the piece," the justice department said in a written statement. "The gallery immediately recognized the piece as the stolen piece of art. As a result, the gallery notified the auction house of its stolen nature and notified the FBI. When the FBI questioned Light about it, he lied and created a fake receipt purporting to show that he bought the print before it was stolen."

As part of his plea agreement, Light will forfeit the stolen artwork retrieved by law enforcement. He is scheduled to appear in federal court Oct. 28. Once he pleads guilty, Light will face as much as 10 years in federal prison, according to prosecutors.