LOS ANGELES : Convicted Art Forger Ordered to Paint Mural

A man convicted of forging paintings by Salvador Dali and Norman Rockwell was ordered Tuesday to paint a mural on a public building or wall as part of his sentence.

Anthony Gene Tetro, 43, of Claremont, was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, including painting the mural and working with high school students in a traffic safety program.

Tetro pleaded no contest in February to conspiracy, attempted theft and six counts of art forgery involving works by Dali, Rockwell, Joan Miro, Hiromichi Yamagata and Marc Chagall. The forgeries, painted between 1984 and 1989, were sold at a Sherman Oaks gallery for nearly $100,000.

Under a plea agreement, Tetro agreed to serve six months in jail. Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan said, however, that he decided to waive the jail time because of anxiety that Tetro has experienced while awaiting the outcome of his case.

Tetro admitted painting the artwork but said he believed that they would be sold as reproductions, not originals. The owner of the gallery where the works were sold, Mark Sawicki, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of grand theft after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors in return for leniency. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and a two-year suspended term.