Re: Archaeological Theft
Posted by Harold Ericsson on December 13, 2003 at 11:03:06:
In Reply to: Re: Archaeological Theft posted by Art on December 13, 2003 at 00:06:45:
Art,
Thanks for the directions. Here are two stories from the Las Vegas Sun.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Two more defendants in a federal case involving the theft of more than 10,000 artifacts are scheduled to be sentenced in coming weeks.
Kevin Peterson, an all-terrain vehicle tour guide in the Logandale and Overton areas, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 16, and David Peeler is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 19.
Both were charged as part of Operation Indian Rocks, a federal investigation into a band of looters accused of pilfering artifacts from protected public lands.
Peterson and Peeler have both pleaded guilty to crimes in connection with the thefts, as have Frank Embrey, Bobbie Wilkie and his wife, Deanne.
Court documents show the value of the objects taken from sites in Nevada, California and other Western states is estimated at nearly $416,000.
A total of 13 sites were damaged, including areas in Death Valley National Park.
Two more defendants in artifacts case to be sentenced
By Jace Radke
LAS VEGAS SUN
Two more defendants in a federal case involving the theft of Indian artifacts are scheduled to be sentenced over the next four weeks.
Kevin Peterson, an all-terrain vehicle tour guide in the Logandale and Overton areas, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 16, and David Peeler is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 19.
Both men were charged as part of Operation Indian Rocks, a federal investigation into more than 10,000 archaeological artifacts taken from protected public lands by a ring of looters.
Richard Arnold, executive director of the Las Vegas Indian Center, said the case is one of the largest artifact cases he's seen prosecuted.
"There's a lot of collecting that has gone on over the years, and it's just fortunate that this time these people were caught," said Arnold, who is the tribal chairman of the Pahrump Band of Paiutes. "It's extremely distressing that people go out and desecrate these areas for personal gain."
Birdman