Warhol print of Vladimir Lenin worth $200K stolen in Southern California recovered

A 58-year-old man who formerly lived in downtown Los Angeles pleaded guilty to trafficking a stolen Andy Warhol print worth at least $175,000, officials with the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.  

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Central District of California Office say the Warhol print of former Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin, which was number 44 out of 46 prints the famous artist made, was stolen out of an L.A. County home in early 2021.  

According to a DOJ news release, the person who owned the artwork reported the theft to law enforcement, as well as to the West Hollywood gallery where the print was purchased.  

Days after the Warhol print was stolen, the thief sold it to a pawn shop who contacted Brian Alec Light, now a resident of Hudson, Ohio for help selling the piece.  

Light, who was aware the artwork was stolen, arranged for it to be sold at an auction house within weeks of the theft, prosecutors said.  

“Light told the pawn shop 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 pawn shop owner did,” the release noted.  

When an employee of the Dallas-based auction house, who planned on including the Warhol print in a spring 2021 auction, contacted the West Hollywood gallery for its opinion on the piece, the gallery immediately recognized the stolen Warhol artwork and subsequently informed the Dallas-based auction house and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  

“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,” prosecutors said.  

Light faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, and as part of his plea agreement, the 58-year-old “will forfeit the stolen artwork retrieved by law enforcement.”  

The investigation, which is being conducted by the FBI’s Art Crime Team, is ongoing.