PMarione
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 Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:06 pm Post subject: News of the Mariners' Museum, Newport |
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Published on HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com (http://hamptonroads.com)
Mariners' Museum archivist pleads guilty to charges related to artifacts
theft
| Quote: | NORFOLK
A former archivist with The Mariners' Museum in Newport News pleaded guilty Tuesday to three felonies related to the theft and sale of museum property on eBay.
Lester F. Weber, 46, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to mail fraud, theft and filing a false tax return. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 7.
Weber and his wife, Lori E. Childs, 49, were arrested in February and charged with more than two dozen counts. According to the indictment, the couple sold nearly 1,500 museum items, receiving $162,959 from buyers across the country.
Weber worked as a museum archivist from 2000 to 2006 and was the director of archives for the last six months of his employment. He was fired after being confronted by museum officials about the thefts.
Between 2002 and 2006, according to the indictment, Weber stole historical materials, including nautical brochures, documents and pictures, brought them home and, with his wife, sold them on the Internet auction site eBay.
In court Tuesday, Weber admitted stealing the items and selling them. He also admitted to failing to report income from those sales in four years of tax returns.
Among the most prized collectibles Weber stole are memorabilia collected by a mother and son who survived the 1912 sinking of the famed luxury liner Titanic, according to the indictment. In 1986, the museum acquired 115 items collected by Leah and Frank Aks, who were aboard the Titanic on their way to Norfolk to join Leah's husband.
Weber took original Titanic photographs, lawsuit papers filed a year after the tragedy, and letters, selling them on eBay for between $300 and $988 each, the indictment says.
Museum officials confronted Weber about the thefts on Sept. 25, 2006.
During questioning by museum officials, Weber made "incriminating" statements, according to a court filing by the U.S. attorney's office. The statements were not made public.
Upon his firing, Weber stood and threw his ring of keys at Helen Myers, a museum vice president, according to the filing. He then stormed out of the building.
Weber's lawyer, Larry Dash, an assistant federal public defender, asked a judge to suppress those statements, saying the museum officials did not give Weber his constitutional Miranda warnings.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca B. Smith denied the request, ruling that the museum officials are not law enforcement and therefore not obligated to give Miranda warnings.
Lori Childs was in court on May 27 and attempted to plead guilty. Smith, however, refused to accept the plea and instead ordered Childs to undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether she is competent to plead guilty, according to a court filing. She is currently at the
Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York undergoing an evaluation.
The museum, founded in 1930 and located at 100 Museum Drive in Newport News, houses and preserves historical maritime material.
Dash declined to comment after Tuesday's court proceeding. |
Source:
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/06/mariners-museum-archivist-pleads-guilty-charges-related-artifacts-theft |
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