Antelope Valley Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Importing Antiquity

Published on September 1, 2024

LOS ANGELES—A Palmdale man was sentenced Thursday to three months in federal prison for illegally importing a 2,000-pound ancient mosaic depicting the Roman god Hercules dating from the era of the Roman Empire by using fraudulent documents in hopes of avoiding import duties. Yassin Alcharihi, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George W. Hu, who also granted the government’s application for a preliminary order of forfeiture for the mosaic. At the conclusion of a five-day trial, a jury in June 2023 found Alcharihi guilty of one count of entry of falsely classified goods. Federal prosecutors say the relic, which is 18 feet long, 8 feet tall and weighs 1 ton, was looted from war-torn Syria and smuggled via Turkey. It depicts Hercules and other figures from Roman mythology....

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