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Okla-homey
4/5/2007, 05:31 AM
:mad:

This 40 y/o guy stole 164 Civil War documents form you and me. Thank goodness all but 3 have been recovered so far. I mean, I can see 9but not endorse) a guy in desperation stealing a document or two to pay a bill, but... 164 of them?!? It's like he was asking to get caught. The bastage fenced the stolen dox on eBay.

I wish all the plagues, fines, and jail time possible upon this scum. Can't even trust a guy with a master's degree in history and library science anymore. At least he'll never work in history again.


Intern admits thefts from U.S. archives

PHILADELPHIA - A 40-year-old intern with the National Archives pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing 164 Civil War documents, including an official announcement of President Lincoln's death, and putting most of them up for sale on eBay.

Prosecutors said Denning McTague, who has master's degrees in history and library science, put about 150 of the documents online and had shipped about half of them.

All but three of the items, worth an estimated $30,000 in all, have since been recovered.

McTague told investigators that he used a yellow legal pad to sneak the documents out while working at the National Archives and Records Administration last summer. As an unpaid intern, he had been responsible for arranging and organizing documents in preparation for the upcoming 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

A Gettysburg company that publishes books on the Civil War spotted some of the items on eBay and alerted authorities last fall, officials said.

The stolen Civil War-era documents included telegrams concerning the troops' weaponry, the War Department's announcement of Lincoln's death sent to soldiers, and a letter from famed cavalryman James Ewell Brown Stuart, prosecutors said.

McTague pleaded guilty to one federal count of stealing government property. He could receive up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced July 12, but federal sentencing guidelines call for much less.

Paul Brachfeld, inspector general for the National Archives, said the documents are invaluable and getting them back was not easy, especially since some had been sold overseas.

The buyers, mostly history buffs, surrendered the documents after learning they were stolen. Prosecutors said they could get some reimbursement from McTague.

MamaMia
4/5/2007, 05:36 AM
I feel violated.

Okla-homey
4/5/2007, 07:47 AM
I feel violated.

You should. This a-hole stole from all of us and billions yet unborn.

This is PDF, but it's very interesting.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/News/Pr/2007/mar/mctague.pdf

Hamhock
4/5/2007, 07:56 AM
:mad:


I wish all the plagues, fines, and jail time possible upon this scum. Can't even trust a guy with a master's degree in history and library science anymore. At least he'll never work in history again.

how about probation, community service, and a small fine?

'cause i'm pretty sure that's the precedent.

Okla-homey
4/5/2007, 08:04 AM
how about probation, community service, and a small fine?

'cause i'm pretty sure that's the precedent.

precedent, schmescedent. ;) When you steal stuff that can be replaced, like money, securities or "stuff" that's one thing. When you steal one-of-a-kind irreplaceable stuff of great intrinsic value, in order to fence it for cash, that's different IMHO. Especially since it appears to me the guy got the intern gig in order to get access to the stuff he wanted to steal.

In an article I read online, he was a dealer in this sort of thing and had a shop in Philadelphia. He enrolled in a college program which allowed him to parlay an unpaid internship at NARA.

Hamhock
4/5/2007, 08:06 AM
precedent, schmescedent. ;) When you steal stuff that can be replaced, like money, securities or "stuff" that's one thing. When you steal one-of-a-kind irreplaceable stuff of great intrinsic value, in order to fence it for cash, that's different IMHO. Especially since it appears to me the guy got the intern gig in order to get access to the stuff he wanted to steal.

In an article I read online, he was a dealer in this sort of thing and had a shop in Philadelphia. He enrolled in a college program which allowed him to parlay an unpaid internship at NARA.


you're right. :rolleyes:

the precedent i was referring to involved the guy admitted to actually stealing the documents, then intentionally destroying them.