A New York state employee who had access to US government-owned archives has been arrested on suspicion of stealing hundreds of historic documents and selling many of them on eBay. Daniel Lorello, 54, of Rensselaer, New York, was charged with grand larceny, possession of stolen property and fraud.
Lorello pleaded innocent in Albany City Court on Monday. But, previously he had admitted in a written statement to stealing documents and artifacts since 2002. The attorney general's office released a copy of his statement.
Among the missing documents were an 1823 letter by U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun and copies of the Davy Crockett Almanacs, pamphlets written by the frontiersman who died at the Alamo in Texas. He was found out by an alert history buff who saw the items posted on the online auction site and alerted authorities, the state attorney general's office said in a statement.
In 2007 alone, Lorello stated he took 300 to 400 items, including the four-page Calhoun letter, which drew bids of more than $1,700 while investigators were monitoring the sale.
Officials recovered some 400 items from his upstate New York home, which Lorello estimated was 90 percent of everything he had taken, but they have yet to determine how many items were sold online. Link
Lorello pleaded innocent in Albany City Court on Monday. But, previously he had admitted in a written statement to stealing documents and artifacts since 2002. The attorney general's office released a copy of his statement.
Among the missing documents were an 1823 letter by U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun and copies of the Davy Crockett Almanacs, pamphlets written by the frontiersman who died at the Alamo in Texas. He was found out by an alert history buff who saw the items posted on the online auction site and alerted authorities, the state attorney general's office said in a statement.
In 2007 alone, Lorello stated he took 300 to 400 items, including the four-page Calhoun letter, which drew bids of more than $1,700 while investigators were monitoring the sale.
Officials recovered some 400 items from his upstate New York home, which Lorello estimated was 90 percent of everything he had taken, but they have yet to determine how many items were sold online. Link
1 comments:
Looks like he SOLD about 400 items since around 2001. AP article here:
EBay to Buy Back Stolen Historical Items
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