Ancient mosaic of Hercules nets man prison term for illegal import from Syria

A California man was sentenced to prison for illegally importing a 2,000-pound Syrian mosaic of the Roman demigod Hercules, a historic work of art dating back to the Roman Empire, federal prosecutors said this week.

Mohamad Yassin Alcharihi is heading to prison for a three-month sentence after U.S. District Court Judge George W. Hu sentenced him Thursday for lying to customs about the mosaic, the Justice Department said. The 15-foot long, 8-foot wide antiquity was seized by federal authorities from Alcharihi's garage and will be repatriated to Syria.

The mosaic depicts the story of Hercules rescuing Prometheus, who was chained to a rock by his gods for stealing fire for humanity. The department said Alcharihi bought the mosaic in 2015 for about $12,000 and lied to U.S. Customs and Border Protection about its value and origins.

"In August 2015, Alcharihi illegally imported the mosaic – which dates from the era of the Roman Empire – by means of a false classification as to its value and quality," according to the department's statement. "The mosaic arrived at Alcharihi’s direction at the Port of Long Beach as part of a shipment from Turkey."

The case isn't the first of looted art discovered in the U.S. In March, a Massachusetts family found art looted from Japan dating back to World War II in their attic. In September 2023, the New York family of a late billionaire voluntarily agreed to return 33 artifacts to Cambodia. The FBI maintains the National Stolen Art File, an online database of stolen art, cultural items and ancient artifacts.

The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in 2014 condemning the destruction of Syria's World Heritage Sites by terrorist groups. The group has passed resolutions since then condemning the destruction and smuggling of cultural and religious sites and property.

A jury found Alcharihi guilty on June 21, 2023, of entry of goods falsely classified, after a five-day trial. according to court records. Hu also granted the government's request Thursday to seize the mosaic, the department said.

The department said Alcharihi paid about $40,000 to restore the mosaic and its current-day value is at $450,000. The 1-ton mosaic is being stored at an undisclosed facility in Los Angeles awaiting its return to Syria, according to court papers.

"Defendant conspired to smuggle, and did smuggle, a highly valuable Roman mosaic into the United States. He has never expressed any remorse or acknowledged any wrongdoing," U.S. attorneys said in a sentencing recommendation, according to court documents.

Man lied about mosaic to broker, prosecutors say

According to a May 2018 complaint for forfeiture, U.S. attorneys said Alcharihi lied to a third-party broker about the value of the mosaic and had it shipped to the U.S. with 81 vases and three mosaic items. A man from Turkey sent Alcharihi an invoice of $2,199.23 for the items and $2,900 for shipping, according to court records.

The broker told the FBI and Homeland Security Investigators the items were declared as "ornamental art" and "ceramic, unglazed tiles" with a total value of $2,199. Federal agents later learned about the $40,000 restoration in interviews with two unnamed people, and one acknowledged the mosaic was about 2,000 years old.

Alcharihi said "that the mosaic was peeled off a floor 25 years ago and that it had taken him 10 years to get the mosaic out of Turkey because the laws had changed there," according to court documents. He also said the mosaic had been "rolled up" for 25 years.

An expert told law enforcement that looted cultural items from Syria have been routed through Turkey since about 2012 and that the one Alcharihi received was a rare piece.

Federal agents interviewed Alcharihi in March 2016, and he admitted purchasing 80 vases that broke upon arrival to the U.S., two mosaics, the looted Roman Empire art and a smaller unknown one for $12,000, court papers said. He reported the total value as $2,400 in an attempt to pay less in duties, federal prosecutors said.

He later stated in an email to an unnamed person that the mosaic came from land and a building his family owned for generations and imported it legally into the U.S., according to court documents.

Alcharihi's wife, family, friends and fellow worshippers at a nearby mosque submitted letters to the court in August, requesting that he not be given jail time for the smuggling. His wife, Asmaa Addi, said that Alcharihi is devoted to his family and has helped civilians in Syria protect themselves from chemical warfare and that imprisonment would put a strain on his family and adolescent children. That was directly disputed by U.S. attorneys in a separate court filing.

"The problem is that defendant’s otherwise commendable life story has a deep stain: defendant’s years-long scheme to con the United States and get rich by selling a smuggled antiquity," U.S. attorneys said in an Aug. 19 court filing. "Again, defendant’s conduct after he was caught in March 2016 merits scrutiny: for years, he continued to lie about the Mosaic and then engaged in witness tampering. That is not the American dream."

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.