Art Dealer Gets 7-Year Term in Forgery Scheme

An art dealer who could not come up with the money to pay back victims of an elaborate forgery scheme involving the works of famed Western artist Olaf Wieghorst was sentenced Tuesday to seven years and four months in state prison.

Louis Almeida, 49, of La Mesa was taken into custody immediately after the ruling by San Diego Municipal Judge H. Ronald Domnitz, who also fined him $10,000.

Almeida pleaded guilty April 18 to six counts of grand theft in connection with the scheme, in which owners of paintings by the late Wieghorst left them on consignment with Almeida for sale, only to have them replaced with counterfeits.

Wieghorst, of El Cajon, died last year at the age of 88, but assisted in the investigation before his death and certified that at least one painting in the case was a fake.

Almeida returned the counterfeit paintings to the owners after saying he could not sell them. The originals had been secretly sold.

Domnitz had allowed Almeida to remain free because his attorney said he might be able to come up with funds to repay the victims. The judge gave Almeida 40 days last month to come up with $100,000 by Tuesday.

Leif Tessem, the attorney representing Almeida, told the court that Alicia Almeida filed for divorce from her husband and declared bankruptcy on Sept. 6. For that reason, funds from the sale of the couple’s house and Almeida’s art gallery were frozen.

Prosecutors estimate the losses in the fraud to exceed $200,000, but Tessem said his estimate is valued at $137,000.