Yoko Ono is named in a lawsuit brought by a Pojoaque tribal judge who claims an autographed John Lennon album he bought turned out to be forged.

Frank Demolli, a lawyer who is a Pojoaque Pueblo judge, says in a complaint he filed last week in state District Court that he attended a sale of Lennon's art at La Fonda in 2002.

The complaint says Ono, Lennon's widow, promoted the sales by appearing in advertisements for the sale when she "should have known that her reputation is being used to further the practice of inducement of fraud."

Demolli said he spent $4,000 on a framed album cover, Live Peace in Toronto 1969, signed by Lennon and Eric Clapton; an original Lennon self-portrait drawing and an Ono self-portrait caricature.

He said he also bought a lithograph, At Last He Can See the Mountains, signed by Ono, Lennon's widow, for $900.

But last summer, Demolli wrote, he began to read Internet articles on forgeries of Beatles' autographs and "recognized signs of forgery" on his album.

He said Beatle-autograph experts subsequently determined the signatures on his album were forgeries.

Named as defendants are Legacy Productions, Legacy director Larry Schwartz, a New York firm called Bag One Arts Inc. and Ono, chairwoman of Bag One.

Demolli wrote that he left a telephone message at Bag One Arts' gallery in New York City, asking to speak to the firm's director Lynne Clifford on Oct. 27.

On Oct. 30, he wrote, Schwartz left a message on his cell phone from a California number, stating that he was calling on behalf of Clifford.

Ono and Clifford were not available for comment at Bag One Arts, but Schwartz, whose office recently moved from Santa Rosa, Calif., to West Palm Beach, Fla., said Wednesday that he had been told by his lawyers in New York that the dispute with Demolli is resolved, although he's not sure how.

"It was a misunderstanding," he said. "I think he probably panicked because he couldn't reach anyone here. But they took care of it from the upper end. There are some people who sue everybody and then ask questions after, and then some people who ask questions first."

Demolli did not respond to a message Wednesday seeking comment.

His complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for inducing fraud, fraud and violating the New Mexico Unfair Trade Practices Act, plus attorney's fees, expenses and other relief the court deems appropriate.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 995-3813 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.