|
 They both ended up surprised: It turned out he spent $25,000 on
about 100 counterfeit pieces.
He bought them from Michael Little, a Renton man who provided him
with fabricated documents attesting to their authenticity.
With Little being sentenced in federal court Wednesday, the
74-year-old Coombes said he has learned and moved on. He's still
collecting Chihuly art — the real stuff, this time — for the
university's Jundt Art Museum.
"I knew I'd been taken, but you get over it and get on with your
life," Coombes told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik sentenced Little to five months in
prison, followed by five months at a halfway house and three years
of supervised release, for his guilty plea to wire fraud. The case
involved two dozen victims, including Coombes, though the others
lost less money.
Lasnik ordered Little to repay the victims a total of more than
$75,000, including legal fees for Chihuly's organization.
The judge said he would have preferred to send Little to basic
training in the Army, if he had the authority.
Citing a doctor's report to the court, Lasnik noted that Little
sleeps until 10 a.m. every day, takes an afternoon nap and spends
much of the rest of the time on his computer.
The 35-year-old lives with his parents. His father attended the
sentencing, but his mother forgot to bring identification to enter
the courthouse and awaited her son's fate at a Starbucks across the
street.
Matt Diggs, an assistant U.S. attorney, asked for a 15-month prison
term. Little's attorney, Dennis Carroll, sought probation.
The judge said prison might do Little some good.
"This is a guy who needs to get out of the house," Lasnik said.
Little obtained the generic glass art on eBay and elsewhere, then
sold it — mostly through eBay — as bona fide Chihuly, a renowned
artist whose sculptures and installations have been displayed all
over the world. His customers all told investigators they thought
the works they received were real.
Chihuly is from Tacoma, where he helped launch the Museum of Glass.
A new Chihuly exhibit space and garden opened recently under
Seattle's Space Needle.
According to his plea agreement, Little told some prospective buyers
his family bought the works after winning the lottery. As early as
2011, some of Little's online postings were removed because of a
fraud alert, but he persisted.
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Lasnik was unimpressed with Little's statement to the court. The
bald, bespectacled man lumbered to a podium in a sharp black suit —
"the first time I've seen him in anything other than a hoodie," his
lawyer noted — and proceeded largely to blame the crimes on a
mysterious woman who supposedly provided him with the pieces he
sold.
"I really didn't know what I was selling," Little said,
contradicting his plea agreement.
The judge asked Little if he told investigators about the mystery
woman.
"I've been told not to talk to police," he said.
Lasnik said that deflection could have warranted a longer jail
sentence, but he also emphasized the importance of Little getting
out of prison, finding a job and repaying his victims. The judge
also asked Little if there was anything he wanted to say to his
victims.
"I'm very sorry for all of the actions that I did and everything I
told people to try to get them into buying this art glass," he said.
Coombes is a retired Air Force major and former biplane air show
pilot who works in information technology at Gonzaga. Some of his
authentic Chihuly pieces were displayed this year as part of an
exhibit to celebrate Gonzaga's 125th anniversary.
Coombes still has the fake pieces. He discovered they were phony
only after seeking further authentication before donating them to
the museum.
He figures he'll destroy most of them, but some of the better
forgeries might still be put to use.
He's talking with the museum about using them as educational tools,
to help teach art students the difference between the fakes and the
real thing.
[Associated
Press; GENE JOHNSON]
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