posted on May 25, 2004 06:51:23 PM
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO (AP) - A scam artist who portrayed rummage sale art as masterpieces in online auctions was sentenced today to nearly four years in federal prison.
Kenneth Fetterman, 36, a former pizza deliveryman and soldier who tried to deal art dating from the Renaissance to abstract expressionism, was ordered to repay more than $94,000 in restitution to the people he defrauded.
Fetterman, of Placerville, pleaded guilty March 3 in U.S. District Court to six counts of money laundering in a scheme in which he and two accomplices created more than 40 online aliases on eBay to falsely drive up bidding on hundreds of paintings from November 1998 to June 2000.
``They were bidding up the value of the paintings to induce other people to come in and bid even higher,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Hanly.
Co-defendants Kenneth Walton, 36, of Sacramento and Scott Beach, 33, of Lakewood, Colo., have pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud and are scheduled to be sentenced next Tuesday for their part in the crime that highlighted the hazards of buying art online.
The scam, which came to light when the trio auctioned a colorful canvas doctored to look like the work of abstract artist Richard Diebenkorn, led the eBay auction site to crack down on so-called shill bidding.
The red, orange and pink painting was said to come from a garage sale in Berkeley, where Diebenkorn lived in the 1950s. It contained the inscription ``RD52'' -- similar to the way the artist signed his works. In fact, Fetterman and Walton had bought the piece in a junk shop in Southern California and Walton forged the initials.
Bidding started at 30 cents and the three crooks placed more than 50 fake bids to send the price skyrocketing before a bidder from the Netherlands won with a $135,805 bid.
Federal investigators uncovered work by the ring to sell paintings that appeared to be by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti, Frenchman Maurice Utrillo, and Americans John Califano, Clyfford Still and Edward Hopper.
Nearly a decade earlier, during a stint in Seattle after meeting Walton at Fort Lewis in nearby Tacoma, Fetterman claimed he had authenticated a work of Renaissance master Raphael that he was offering for $20 million. While Fetterman fooled a Seattle Times art critic, the newspaper wrote a stinging follow-up exposing Fetterman's experience: a 10-week high school art class.
Once federal authorities started to track Fetterman, he fled to Lake Tahoe and was on the run for nearly two years before he was nabbed in Wichita, Kansas, on his way to a Frisbee tournament.
In addition to the prison term of three years and 10 months, Fetterman will serve three years probation and will be barred from online auctions during that time.
Fetterman apologized in court today, saying he had smeared his name and would work to encourage others not to commit crimes, Hanly said. His defense lawyer did not immediately return a phone call for comment.
As part of his plea deal, Fetterman surrendered his interest in the faux Diebenkorn, but Hanly said he wasn't sure if the government would put it on the auction block.
``It has some infamous fame, at least,'' he said. ``Someone might say this is the painting that was in the eBay fraud case.''
posted on May 25, 2004 07:27:44 PM
I would guess there would be quite a bit of interest in that painting if the government decides to auction it. What would be really funny is if the Dept. of Justice lists it and winds up with a NPB. Or better yet, a scammer that uses a hijacked Paypal account to pay for it.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on May 25, 2004 07:55:53 PM
Classic...You're absolutely right. But, he'll spend the next 4 years at Lompoc and probably take up painting as a hobby. He'll have plenty of time to create masterpieces, and within 72 hours of walking out the front gates,he'll have 20 shill accounts and be a powerseller within 2 weeks.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on May 25, 2004 10:26:05 PM
You mean 3 year and 72 hours right? Otherwise he get busted, violates probation and goes back. I'm surprised they only restricted him from auctions for the probation period.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 25, 2004 10:44:19 PM
Naaww Fenix...A person like this probably thinks he's smarter than a probation officer. I stick to my prediction of 72 hours. And I betcha the first thing he lists is the gavel that he lifted from the judge who sentenced him.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
