Bay Area seller sentenced for $92,000 Native American art fraud
An eBay vendor ignored federal warnings, selling cheap imported knockoffs falsely labeled as authentic tribal jewelry
Molly Breivis, 57, of San Francisco, was sentenced on Aug. 5 in Phoenix federal court after pleading guilty to misrepresentation of Native American-produced goods, according to reporting from FOX 10 Phoenix. Breivis received a sentence of time served and a $10,000 fine after admitting she marketed Asian knockoffs as authentic tribal creations and sold more than $92,000 worth of counterfeit jewelry through eBay.
From 2020 to 2024, she advertised the jewelry as work handcrafted by Apache, Laguna, Navajo and Zuni artisans. Investigators said she ignored two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warning letters saying her sales violated the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
Her plea requires an apology letter on the Indian Arts and Crafts Board website. Doug Ault, assistant director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, said the counterfeit sales harmed the marketplace and cultural heritage of artists and tribes.
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