A former Queens foundry owner copped a plea Monday, admitting he tried to pocket $11 million through a scheme to pawn off a fake bronze sculpture of artist Jasper John’s iconic 1960 painting “Flag” as the real deal.
Brian Ramnarine, 59, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud a week after his trial began in Manhattan federal court. Under his plea deal, he can’t challenge any sentence of 10 years or less in prison when he’s sentenced May 30.
It was testimony by the artist himself that likely led to Ramnarine’s plea.
Johns, 83, told jurors Thursday that Ramnarine had lied by claiming the artist gave him the bronze copy as a gift. Ramnarine was caught by the feds trying to sell it in 2010 to a collector.
Johns said he had hired Ramnarine in 1990 to make a wax mold of the work for the creation of a gold version.
That gold copy was never produced, but Johns said Ramnarine ignored requests to return the mold and even used it to make another bronze statue in the early 1990s that, again, he falsely claimed was Johns’ work.
Ramnarine’s lawyers had claimed their client was told he could keep the mold by James Meyer, Johns’ longtime assistant. Meyer is accused of stealing artwork from Johns.