CHRISMAS HAS 5 YEARS TO REPAY : ART DEALER PLEADS NO CONTEST

Noted West Hollywood art dealer Douglas James Chrismas pleaded no contest Wednesday to a criminal charge that he stole seven contemporary artworks worth as much as $1.3 million.

Chrismas’ legal equivalent of a guilty plea resulted from a settlement of his criminal case worked out by his lawyer, the district attorney’s office and the Vancouver, B.C., victim of the theft who agreed to give Chrismas five years to pay for the artworks.

Chrismas, owner of the chic Flow Ace Gallery on Melrose Avenue, entered his plea to Judge Leon S. Kaplan in Los Angeles Municipal Court Wednesday morning after months of negotiations that followed his February arrest for stealing works by some of this era’s leading artists--Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and others.

His case has attracted considerable attention within the Southern California art community, where Chrismas, 42, is well known as one of the nation’s leading dealers of contemporary art. For nearly a decade, however, he has faced more than a score of civil lawsuits alleging that he failed to pay artists for their works and has not delivered artworks bought and paid for by collectors.

Chrismas also has had a string of business reverses in recent years. Since 1982, he and his various companies have filed three Chapter 11 federal bankruptcies.

He is a Canadian citizen who has lived and operated art galleries in Los Angeles since 1969. He originally spelled his name Christmas but apparently changed it sometime after his move to Los Angeles.

The plea and settlement in the criminal case “resolved the issue of Chrismas’ guilt,” said Dep. Dist. Atty. Frederick G. Stewart after the hearing Wednesday.

Stewart said that his office and the court will monitor Chrismas’ compliance with the settlement agreement, which “gives Chrismas every incentive in the world” to make restitution to Canadian real-estate developer C. Frederick Stimpson.

Stimpson had left the seven pieces in Chrismas’ care over a period of years. According to court documents, Chrismas sold some of the pieces and used others as collateral for loans.

The stolen artworks--four pieces by Rauschenberg and one each by Warhol, Frank Stella and Donald Judd--have been traced to collectors and artists around the country. It was unclear Wednesday whether Stimpson will pursue legal efforts to retrieve them.

Under the terms of the settlement, Chrismas, who was released on his own recognizance, agreed to pay Stimpson $650,000 over a period of five years.

Payments will be monitored by the court, and Chrismas’ actual sentencing is unlikely if he meets the terms of the payment schedule, Stewart said. Chrismas also agreed to immediately deliver to Stimpson the $20,000 collateral that the art dealer had put up to cover his $40,000 bail in the case.

Failure to live up to the terms of the settlement could result in a sentence of up to five years in state prison for Chrismas. A sentencing hearing is scheduled Nov. 3 before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Horowitz.

“Mr. Stimson has taken a forgiving attitude in this case, and as long as the funds are paid he does not seek a prison sentence,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Stewart said.

“Chrismas could very well end up with a misdemeanor” rather than a felony conviction, said defense attorney Richard Hirsch, if his client satisfies the terms of the settlement.