PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge sentenced a 75-year-old Portland man to a year and a day in prison for faking works by well-known artists and selling the knockoffs to a dozen unsuspecting buyers.
Authorities arrested Larry Ulvi after a search of his apartment turned up 160 paintings, many of them done in the style of Mark Tobey, the abstract-expressionist artist who died in 1976. Ulvi pleaded guilty to mail fraud last summer.
Prosecutors say Ulvi pocketed thousands of dollars from gallery owners and created uncertainty about the authenticity of Tobey paintings and drawings that remain in the marketplace. They say he has been unwilling to lead them to other fakes.
Public defender Alison Clark asked U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jones to place Ulvi on probation, citing his age and health problems.
Filed under: Crime, Oregon, Portland
