Jose Martinez Pleads Guilty to Selling Fake Native American Art, Sentenced to 24 Months of Supervised Probation and $14,100 in Restitution
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on November 10 that Jose Martinez pled guilty on November 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada to a felony violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, for misrepresenting and selling fake Indian artwork as authentic Native American made products. Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon sentenced Martinez to 24 months of supervised probation and ordered him to pay $14,100 in restitution.
According to statements made in court, Martinez, doing business as Joseph Skywolf of Skywolf's Gallery, offered or displayed for sale various kinds of artwork, such as headdresses, jewelry, paintings, and beaded tanned hides, beginning on or about December 7, 2023, and continuing to about December 10, 2024, falsely representing that they were made by an Indian or by a specific Indian Tribe.
Meridith Stanton, Director of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the U.S. Department of the Interior, said Martinez, while falsely claiming to be Chiricahua Apache, Apache, Navajo, and Native American when selling his counterfeit Indian art, undercut authentic Indian artists and Indian economies, culture, and traditions. Through sales made from his mobile Skywolf's Gallery, his previous Skywolf's Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming, and various Indian art markets and other venues across the West, Southwest, and Plains regions, he deceived unwitting consumers.
Stanton said the Board is responsible by statute for administering and enforcing the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, an anti-counterfeiting law that protects Indian artists and consumers. The case was investigated by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Indian Arts and Crafts Investigative Unit.
(Source: U.S. Department of the Interior)
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国内政部主内政大楼外景（华盛顿）。内政部印第安艺术与手工艺委员会负责执行《印第安艺术与手工艺法》。ajay_suresh 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Main Interior Building of the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington. The Department's Indian Arts and Crafts Board enforces the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. By ajay_suresh, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
