LOS ANGELES : Artist Pleads No Contest in Forgeries of Artworks

A self-taught artist pleaded no contest Thursday to charges that he copied paintings and lithographs by such artists as Norman Rockwell and Marc Chagall and sold them as originals.

Anthony Gene Tetro, 42, pleaded no contest to a conspiracy count and six counts of forging works of Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Hiro Yamagata, Chagall and Rockwell.

As part of a plea-bargain with prosecutors, Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan will sentence Tetro on March 11 to six months in jail and order him to provide 200 hours of community service by teaching art. Tetro must also paint a mural on a building or wall, with the site to be determined later.

After five days of deliberation in a trial 18 months ago, jurors told a judge that they were deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. If he had been convicted on the charges, the artist would have faced up to six years in prison.

Tetro was accused of forging 67 watercolors and lithographs. When charges were filed in August, 1989, prosecutors said Tetro forged the works for distribution nationwide at prices ranging from $3,000 to $2 million apiece.