A Connecticut antiques dealer and auction-house operator has pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge stemming from the theft of more than $2.1 million from an elderly client and the client’s estate, resolving the central criminal allegation in a case involving fiduciary control, artwork sales and diverted financial assets.

David L. Johnson, 66, of Greenwich, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Sarah F. Russell in New Haven. Federal prosecutors calculated the total loss at $2,168,719.24. Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 30 and faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, although the sentence will be determined by the court after considering federal guidelines and other factors.

Johnson operated Antique Treasures LLC, an antiques business, and Greenwich Auction, an auction company. Both were based in Stamford, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. The businesses placed Johnson within a regional market serving collectors, consignors and estates, but the criminal case centers on his separate position of authority over one elderly client’s property and finances.

In October 2018, the client executed a power of attorney naming Johnson as an agent. The client also signed a will and trust designating Johnson as executor and successor trustee. Those appointments gave Johnson access to substantial financial and estate assets, but they did not make him a beneficiary. Court documents cited by prosecutors state that Johnson was not entitled to take the client’s property for himself.

The client, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed by prosecutors, died in August 2020 at age 87. Investigators determined that Johnson had taken money before and after the death, with the conduct continuing over several years. Recent reporting based on plea documents said the embezzlement ran from approximately November 2018 through April 2023 and involved unauthorized checks, withdrawals, converted payments and transfers benefiting Johnson or entities he controlled.

One of the clearest transactions involved a federal tax refund. The government issued a refund check of more than $436,000 to the client’s estate for the 2019 tax year. Johnson deposited the check into his personal bank account in November 2020, according to the factual record described by prosecutors.

Approximately two months later, Johnson used part of those funds to purchase an $87,580 cashier’s check payable to Fidelity Investments. The transaction formed the basis of the money laundering charge to which he pleaded guilty. According to reporting on the plea stipulation, Johnson admitted that the transaction was intended to conceal the source of money taken from the estate.

Artwork also figured prominently in the broader case. When federal prosecutors announced Johnson’s indictment in December 2025, they said he had taken more than $308,000 from the proceeds of artwork belonging to the estate. The works had been sold through a New York auction house, and the resulting funds were deposited into an account associated with one of Johnson’s businesses.

The earlier indictment also identified more than $217,000 taken from an investment account. It charged Johnson with five felony counts: one count of money laundering, one count of interstate transportation of stolen property and three counts of engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property. Johnson initially pleaded not guilty after his arrest.

Under the plea arrangement described in recent court reporting, Johnson pleaded guilty to the money laundering count, and prosecutors are expected to seek dismissal of the remaining charges after sentencing. The underlying transactions may still be considered when the judge evaluates the offense conduct and calculates an appropriate sentence.

The case has financial consequences beyond any prison term. The Justice Department said Johnson has paid approximately $1.1 million in restitution. More detailed figures reported from the plea documents put the amount repaid at about $1.14 million and the remaining balance at roughly $1.03 million. Final restitution obligations and any additional financial penalties will be addressed through the sentencing process.

Johnson has remained free on a $250,000 bond since his Dec. 18, 2025, arrest. The money laundering offense carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, but statutory maximums do not necessarily reflect the sentence ultimately imposed. Federal judges generally consider the advisory sentencing range, the defendant’s history, the seriousness of the offense, restitution efforts and arguments submitted by prosecutors and defense counsel.

Recent reporting on the plea agreement indicated that the two sides differ over the applicable guideline calculation. Prosecutors contend that an obstruction-related enhancement should apply, while the defense disputes that position. Those arguments could produce significantly different recommended ranges, although Judge Russell is not required to impose a sentence within either side’s proposed calculation.

Prosecutors are also seeking restrictions intended to prevent similar access to other people’s assets. According to court-document reporting, the government has proposed supervised-release conditions that would prevent Johnson from acting as another person’s power of attorney, trustee or estate executor without judicial approval.

The case highlights a recurring vulnerability in the art and antiques sector, where dealers may handle valuable property while also advising owners about appraisals, consignments, storage and sales. When the owner is elderly or an estate is being administered, a single person may gain access to both physical objects and the accounts receiving sale proceeds. That concentration of authority can make independent inventories, transaction records and financial oversight especially important.

The guilty plea does not indicate wrongdoing by the unnamed New York auction house involved in the artwork transactions. Prosecutors have not publicly accused the auction house of participating in Johnson’s scheme. The cited art sales instead served as one source of estate proceeds that investigators said Johnson diverted after the transactions were completed.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division conducted the federal investigation. IRS criminal agents frequently trace bank deposits, investment transfers, cashier’s checks and other financial movements in money laundering and fraud cases. Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Huang is prosecuting the matter for the District of Connecticut.

Johnson’s October sentencing will determine the length of any incarceration, supervised release and final financial orders. It will also mark the next major stage in a case that moved from a five-count indictment to a guilty plea involving more than twice the loss initially detailed in the government’s charging announcement.