Ruling that "price fixing is a crime whether it is committed in a grocery store or the halls of a great auction house", a New York judge yesterday sentenced former Sotheby's chairman Alfred Taubman (78) to a year in prison and fined him $7.5 million (€8 million) for fixing commission fees with rival auction house Christie's.
Mr Taubman stood to get a maximum three-year sentence but the judge took into account more than 90 letters pleading for leniency from icons of American society ranging from former US President Gerald Ford to TV journalist Ms Barbara Walters.
His lawyer, Mr Robert Fiske, also pleaded that Mr Taubman, who takes 26 pills a day, might only have four years left to live because of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, renal failure and sleep apnea, and that three years would be tantamount to a life sentence. His wife, Judy, described him as "a broken man".
Prosecutor John Greene argued that if he escaped prison the word would see that someone of Mr Taubman's wealth and position - he is worth $640 million - could "get away with it". He also argued that far from being in decline, Mr Taubman travelled abroad frequently, played golf and enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Mr Taubman, a wealthy developer, is a leading philanthropist but Judge George Daniels said no one was above the law and that "one cannot give to the poor and steal from the rich". He also noted that the crime was not motivated by desperation or need, "but arrogance and greed".
Outside the Manhattan courthouse, Mr Taubman pushed away photographers and refused to talk to reporters. He will begin his sentence in August. The former head of Sotheby's was convicted on December 5th of overcharging sellers $43.8 million over six years in a conspiracy with his counterpart at Christie's, Sir Anthony Tennant to fix fees. The judge first sentenced Taubman to one year in jail, but then agreed to a defence request to add another day to make him eligible for time off for good behaviour.
