How the FBI Tracked Down a Valuable Warhol Print that Thief Allegedly Sold to a Pawn Shop

Brian Alec Light, 58, has agreed to plead guilty in federal court for his role in trying to help sell the stolen print

An Ohio man has agreed to take responsibility for his role in trying to help sell a stolen Andy Warhol print valued at at least $175,000.

Brian Alec Light is expected to soon plead guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Central District of California announced in a press release Tuesday, Oct. 1.

The 58-year-old is slated to make his initial appearance in federal court Oct. 28, according to federal prosecutors.

In the 25-page plea agreement reviewed by PEOPLE, prosecutors allege that a thief – identified only by the initials J.O. – stole a Warhol Lenin Trial Proof print, depicting the Soviet political leader, from a Los Angeles County home in early 2021.

The owner of the print contacted both law enforcement and a gallery in West Hollywood, Calif., where he had purchased the piece, per the plea agreement which Light signed on Sept. 18.

Days later, the thief allegedly took the print – which features a disembodied painted sketch of Lenin with face and hand separated by gray space – to a local pawn shop to sell.

The owner of the pawn shop – referred to in the plea agreement as G.B. – then allegedly reached out to Light “for help selling the artwork,” which prosecutors say Light knew to be stolen.

Light then allegedly reached out to an unnamed auction house, and the print was eventually sent to Dallas, Texas, for inspection and sale on March 1, 2021, per the plea agreement.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.      

The auction house – which planned to include the piece in its Spring 2021 auction – also reached out to the same West Hollywood gallery that had initially sold the work for its opinion on the piece.

The gallery “immediately recognized the piece as the stolen piece of art,” and informed the auction house that it was stolen and reached out to the FBI, per the plea agreement.

On March 8, 2021, an FBI agent interviewed Light, who claimed that he had purchased the print for $18,000 in cash and had a receipt from the sale. In the plea agreement, Light acknowledges that he “submitted the fake receipt to the FBI to affect the FBI’s investigation.”

Light later allegedly emailed to the FBI the purported receipt, writing: “I Brian Light bought an A Warhol Painting from [a person] on Feb 4 2021 for $18,000 in Culver City CA.”

Light’s federal public defender, Erin Murphy, did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment in time for publication.

He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.