GDG- Stolen CW Archives

[James Liebegott]

As the Lawrence brothers would say, "SIGH..............."


 


Intern admits thefts from U.S. archives


By MARYCLAIRE DALE - Associated Press Writer


PHILADELPHIA --


An intern with the National Archives pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing
164 Civil War documents, including an official announcement of President
Lincoln's death, and selling most of them on eBay.

Prosecutors said Denning McTague, 40, got about $30,000 from selling about
150 of the documents online. All but three of the items have 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 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.
U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell set his sentencing for July 12. The
maximum sentence would be 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but
federal sentencing guidelines call for much less.