Florida Pastor Sentenced to Prison for Fake Hirst Paintings
- May 21, 2014 23:59
A Miami pastor will spend six months in jail for trying to sell fake works by British artist Damien Hirst.
Kevin Sutherland, 46, was accused of knowingly trying to sell five fake Hirsts for $185,000 to an undercover detective. He faced up to seven years in prison for attempted grand larceny. Sutherland plans to appeal and maintains that he was sent confusing signals by art experts
The court decision came from the Manhattan district attorney's office evidence that Sotheby's auction house had raised red flags about the authenticity of one the works Sutherland presented, but he still told a detective that there no doubts about the artwork.
Sutherland, 46, leads the 200-member, nondenominational Mosaic Miami Church in Miami. His source for the Hirsts was a forger in California who sold the fakes on eBay. The forger, Vincent Lopreto, got a lighter sentence in January for his testimony on Sutherland.
"Because the art industry is largely unregulated, it is particularly important to hold accountable those who fraudulently deal artwork," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said after Sutherland's conviction.
