Art advisor Lisa Schiff, who advised celebrities and ultra-wealthy clients, pleaded guilty this morning in federal court in Manhattan to one count of wire fraud in front of Judge Paul Oetken.

Schiff—wearing chunky blue-rimmed glasses, a tan jacket, black pants, and black sneakers—was somber as she was led in and out of the courtroom by U.S. Marshals.

Following questions from the judge about whether she understood the proceedings, Schiff read a brief prepared statement. She said that between 2018 and May 2023, she lied to clients about selling and buying art on their behalf and that she misused proceeds from those transactions. She choked up and became emotional as she read. Afterward, Judge Oetken asked whether she knew that her actions were against the law. Schiff responded that she did.

Schiff “defrauded at least 12 clients, one artist, the estate of another artist, and one gallery, collectively, of at least approximately $6.5 million,” according to a news release from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“For years,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in statement, “Lisa Schiff breached the trust of her art advisory clients by lying to them and diverting millions of dollars her clients had entrusted to her. Instead of using client funds as promised, Schiff used the stolen money to fund a lavish lifestyle.”

Schiff is currently free on $20,000 bail and is restricted to staying inside the Southern District of New York for the next three months; she will be sentenced on January 17. The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years.

As part of her plea deal, Schiff agreed with prosecutors to guidelines that will ask the judge to sentence her to between 41 months and 51 months. She must also pay restitution and forfeit $6.4 million, which represents the sum of the proceeds traceable to the fraud.

Judge Oetken emphasized in his remarks that his sentence will be determined by a wide range of factors, including a pre-sentencing report that will be delivered by the prosecution.

Prior to her guilty plea, Schiff responded to questions from Judge Oetken about the state of her mental health, saying that she is under psychiatric care for addiction and that she spent time in a rehab facility.

“This represents not an end but a beginning,” Schiff’s attorney, Randy Zellin, said after the hearing. “Lisa is accepting responsibility and this is a path forward to alter the trajectory of her life.”  Zellin said that he and Schiff are working to sort out related bankruptcy proceedings and to return artworks and funds to those harmed by her fraud.

Schiff was a well-regarded advisor and auction house expert for more than two decades, and developed a reputation as a savvy market observer. In May 2023, she was hit with a lawsuit by two former clients, real-estate heiress Candace Barasch and lawyer Richard Grossman, alleging that Schiff owed them a total of $1.8 million, or $900,000 each, related to the sale of a painting by Adrian Ghenie. That suit, filed in a New York court, included claims of breach of contract, fraud, and conspiracy, among other allegations.

Schiff quickly shuttered her SFA Advisory office and showroom in Tribeca, and soon after left her space at Cromwell Place in London.

Days after that initial lawsuit, Barasch filed a second claim againt Schiff, saying that she owed at least $2.5 million plus interest and damages for a series of art purchases that Schiff was meant to facilitate that she never completed or only partially completed.

That second suit alleged a pattern: Schiff would tell Barasch of paintings that were available by in-demand contemporary artists with rising markets, get her permission to acquire them, take full or partial payment, and then, in most cases, fail to complete the purchases.

A few months later, in August 2023, Schiff filed for “voluntary liquidation” in New York. In the ensuing months, her then-attorney tussled with a court-appointed overseer the control of assets such as cash and paintings amid creditor claims.

More than 200 artworks from Schiff’s inventory may hit the auction block next month at Phillips as part of bankruptcy proceedings in New York, Artnet recently reported,