DETROIT — A prominent Metro Detroit art gallery owner reached agreement Thursday to plead guilty to wire fraud after being accused of cheating wealthy clients out of a $1.6 million collection of more than 100 rare fine-art prints — including black-and-white photographs by landscape photographer Ansel Adams.
Wendy Halsted Beard, 58, of Franklin, who owns the Wendy Halsted Gallery, reached the agreement seven months after a high-profile FBI raid at her home. She was charged with mail and wire fraud and accused of orchestrating a scheme involving photographs that she received on consignment.
Prosecutors allege she sold pictures without the owner's knowledge, pocketed the cash or failed to return unsold works, according to the complaint.
