California Dealer Pleads Guilty to Charges of Stalking and Extortion

Jason White, a 43-year-old art dealer based in Temecula, California, has plead guilty to stalking, harassing, and extorting art world colleagues, reports CBS. The FBI  arrested White on February 12 over a six-month extortion scheme targeting the dealer’s former coworkers at Robert Bane Fine Arts in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.

White, who left to run his own business, White Galleries, publicized derogatory information about his Robert Bane associates online as a blackmail tactic. When his victims refused to pay up, he threatened them and their families with violence.

Having admitted his crimes, White will face up to 10 years in federal prison at his June 9 sentencing.