Prominent New York City art dealer sentenced to prison for tax fraud

Prominent New York City art dealer Mary Boone leaves court in New York, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, after being sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after admitting she evaded paying over $3 million in federal taxes. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Prominent New York City art dealer Mary Boone leaves court in New York, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, after being sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after admitting she evaded paying over $3 million in federal taxes. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)

NEW YORK -- A prominent New York City art dealer once accused by Alec Baldwin of fraud was sentenced to 2½ years in prison Thursday for evading over $3 million in federal taxes, a crime that left her rejected in some art circles and saying she feels like a pariah.

Mary Boone, 66, dropped her face into open hands as U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein announced the sentence in a Manhattan courtroom packed with supporters, many of them artists.

Her lawyer had requested home incarceration at most, saying she may have to close Mary Boone Gallery's two Manhattan addresses. Boone said outside court she didn't know whether they would be closed.

In court, Boone apologized, saying she was "very remorseful."

"I feel like a pariah," she said. "My colleagues look at me different."

She pleaded for "a second chance" but said she knew she "will have this scar on me forever and be branded a felon."

In announcing the sentence, Hellerstein cited the tax fraud's size and duration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Olga I. Zverovich said a history of mental illness and substance abuse cited by Boone's lawyer was no excuse for her failure to pay over $3 million in taxes.

Entertainment on 02/15/2019

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