Leslie Roberts' Co-Conspirator Pleads Guilty in Warhol Forgery Scheme

Miami art dealer Leslie Roberts' co-conspirator pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday for his role in the Andy Warhol forgery scheme.

With the help of a Spanish interpreter, Carlos Miguel Rodriguez Melendez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, telling prosecutors that Roberts paid him to pose as a "senior art appraisal authenticator" and vouch for the fake artwork.

FBI agents arrested Rodriguez and Roberts on wire fraud and money laundering charges the same day they raided Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove in April. Federal prosecutors accused the pair of participating in an Andy Warhol forgery scheme.

Prosecutors alleged that Roberts fraudulently represented the art as legitimate Warhol pieces by claiming that he bought the art from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and later showed the victims fake invoices. Rodriguez, a 38-year-old Sunny Isles resident, according to the indictment, posed as a New York-based auction house to fraudulently authenticate the phony artwork. Rodriguez's plea agreement listed a third defendant, whose name was redacted.

According to the factual proffer, a document in which the attorney tells the court what the evidence shows, Rodriguez, who "occasionally completed odd jobs and tasks" for Roberts at Miami Fine Art, posed as a New York-based auction house employee to fraudulently authenticate the fake artwork in January 2024.

Under Roberts' direction, Rodriguez and his colleague Maria Urdaneta Frites, whose business card labeled her a "Warhol Art Appraisal Authenticator," visited clients' homes dressed in black outfits and white gloves, inspected the artworks, and falsely certified them as authentic Warhol pieces, the proffer states.

Roberts paid Rodriguez $5,500 for his participation in the scheme.

"Rodriguez was never employed by [unnamed auction company]," the document reads. "Roberts had created the business cards to further the fraud."

Rodriguez faces up to 20 years in prison and must pay $5,000 in restitution. The plea agreement notes that he agrees to cooperate fully with prosecutors.

Leading up to his arrest, the five-foot-three, toupée-wearing art dealer presented an image of wealth with an extensive art training. He drove around Coconut Grove in an expensive Bentley and filmed TikToks singing (off-key) and playing his grand piano in his Miami high-rise. A December 2024 story described him as a "native New Yorker turned Miami cultural icon" who studied art business and art history at New York University and interned at the well-known auction house Sotheby's. But Roberts' upbringing and life were far from the tales he spun. He was, in fact, a born-and-bred Miami boy who dropped out of the University of Miami after just two semesters. Roberts has two federal convictions — one in the 1980s for depleting his great-uncle's stock portfolio through unauthorized transactions and another in 2015 for selling forged Peter Max artwork.

In addition to his criminal past, Roberts has faced a steady stream of lawsuits related to his dealings in the art world and declared bankruptcy multiple times. In 2010, famed Brazilian artist Romero Britto won a permanent injunction against Roberts after the artist learned that Roberts was selling fake Britto pieces at his gallery, Britto in the Grove, and on eBay.

Before his indictment, Richard, Matthew, and Judy Perlman sued Roberts in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court in August 2024, alleging that they purchased a forged Andy Warhol from Roberts for $6 million after he allegedly posed as an employee of the Warhol Foundation.

The April 2025 criminal indictment appears to mirror allegations in the Perlman lawsuit, including that one of Roberts' Miami Fine Art Gallery employees pretended to work for an international auction house and authenticated the fake art. 

Following his arrest, Roberts remains out on a $250,000 bond co-signed by his ex-wife. Despite strict bond conditions that restrict Roberts from working in the art industry while his criminal case plays out, the 62-year-old appears to be still selling art at his gift shop just 400 feet away from his shuttered and FBI-raided gallery.

A branch of the popular fast-fashion clothing company Brandy Melville has since replaced Miami Fine Art Gallery at 3180 Commodore Plaza.