Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • Contact Us
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter
  • Fantasy Collecting Game
  • AMMpro

Warhol Thief Wants Plea Bargain Sentence After Losing at Trial

August 4, 2011 by Marion Maneker


The man who sold an Warhol “Heinz 57” box to Baby Jane Holzer for $220,000 after stealing it from his employer is waiting for sentencing. He fired his lawyers after his conviction and now wants to the two-year sentence he was offered as a plea bargain before the trial, according to the NY Post:

James Biear faces up to 121 months in the slammer for ripping off poet and writer Kenward Elmslie, a grandson of famed publisher Joseph Pulitzer, after he began suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. In court papers filed today, Manhattan federal prosecutors noted that Biear, 50, “systematically, frequently and painstakingly stole from Elmslie” by swiping his prized personal possessions and sneaking them out of his Greenwich Village home.

Prosecutors seek 10-plus years for ex-assistant who ripped off Pulitzer heir Kenward Elmslie (NY Post)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Stolen Warhol Finds Home with HolzerStolen Warhol Finds Home with Holzer
  • Driving Away with Someone Else's ArtDriving Away with Someone Else's Art
  • Knoedler, Freedman Settle First Suit Over FakesKnoedler, Freedman Settle First Suit Over Fakes
  • Salander Gives InSalander Gives In
  • Photograph Stolen to OrderPhotograph Stolen to Order
  • Warhol Authentication Board Gets ToughWarhol Authentication Board Gets Tough
  • Print
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Fraud, Theft & Restitution

Advertise on Art Market Monitor with Nectar Ads

Top Posts

  • Barney Ebsworth Dies at 83
  • MoMA Gets an Ofili from Cohen; Bradford from Griffen; Hendricks from Dubin
  • Frieze Sales Charts: Overall Sales Volume and Average Prices Rise Sharply
  • Artelligence for April 17, 2018
  • Christie's Has $32m Picasso Marie-Thérèse Portrait for June
  • Loic Gouzer's $70m Malevich for May
  • Joaquin Torres-Garcia at Acquavella Galleries
  • Yoko Ono to Sell Her Basquiat at Sotheby's in November
  • Podcast
  • Thomas Kaplan's Leiden Collection in Moscow


  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • Art Loans
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Advertise on Art Market Monitor