A Palmdale man was convicted by a federal jury Wednesday of illegally importing a nearly 2,000-year-old ancient Roman floor mosaic from Syria into the United States.
According to the United States Department of Justice, 56-year-old Mohamad Yassin Alcharihi purchased the 15-by-8 foot mosaic from Turkey in 2015.
Prosecutors claimed he paid $12,000 for the piece and did not correctly classify the artwork. Instead, the case alleges that Alcharihi lied to his customs broker, saying he was importing ceramic tiles valued at less than $600.
A government appraisal expert, however, valued the mosaic at $450,000.
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The mosaic depicts a story from ancient Greek and Roman mythology depicting the demigod Hercules rescuing Prometheus, who had been chained to a rock by Zeus for stealing fire for humanity.
Upon its purchase by Alcharihi, the mosaic was smuggled inside a shipping container holding many vases and two other mosaics. An x-ray image of the container taken by US Customs showed the mosaic was hidden away from the container doors behind a pile of vases.
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According to court documents, the FBI had been investigating Alcharihi, who frequently imported and sold art from around the world, since 2016 as part of an investigation into the "smuggling [of] looted items believed to be from a foreign conflict area into the United States."
A government expert concluded that the artwork “was an authentic mosaic from the Byzantine period depicting Roman mythology, and was consistent with the iconography of mosaics found in Syria, in particular in and around the city of Idlib.”
The Syrian city of Idlib has been the site of conflict between and rebel and jihadist groups and Syrian government forces since 2011. Like many other countries, the United States adopted import restrictions on archaeological materials from Syria with the goal of protecting endangered cultural property and preventing illegal smuggling.
Federal agents seized the mosaic from Alcharihi's garage in 2016. It is currently being stored at a secure facility in Los Angeles.
Alcharihi faces a maximum of two years in federal prison. He is expected to be sentenced in August.
