[CPProt.net] LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Man charged with theft of historical documents

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Man charged with theft of historical documents

12:45 PM EST on Thursday, December 8, 2005

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The United States Attorney for the Western District of
Kentucky has charged Donald E. Eckard, Sr., 70, with nine felony counts of
art theft. 

It is alleged that on four separate visits to the Filson Historical Society
between July 25, 2003, and August 3, 2004, Eckard stole nine articles of
cultural heritage, each valued at $5,000 or more and in excess of 100 years
old. Eckard has waived his right to an Indictment by a Grand Jury and will
enter a plea of guilty to the charges on a date to be set by the Court. 

The historical documents stolen are: (1) letter from William Clark to Green
Clay, dated July 9, 1799; (2) letter from William Clark to Green Clay, dated
September 17, 1801; (3) letter from Andrew Johnson to Don Carlos Buell,
dated August 24, 1862; (4) letter from Jefferson Davis to John Letcher,
dated April 19, 1861; (5) letter from John Quincy Adams to James Hamlett,
dated December 5, 1832; (6) letter from Thomas Jefferson to William
Carmichael and William Short, dated March 18, 1792; (7) letter from Thomas
Jefferson to William Carmichael and William Short, dated April 24, 1792; (8)
letter from Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Flournoy, dated January 24, 1819; and
(9) letter from Andrew Jackson to Isaac Shelby, dated July 31, 1818. 

The maximum potential penalty is 90 years imprisonment, a $2,250,000 fine,
and supervised release for a period of three years. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ream
and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

A felony Information may only be filed when a defendant waives Indictment by
a Grand Jury.  

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