Jennygirl
04-04-2007, 03:22 PM
Wednesday April 04, 2007
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) A 40-year-old intern with the National Archives pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing 164 Civil War documents including the War Department's announcement of President Lincoln's death and selling most of them on eBay.
Denning McTague, who worked at a National Archives and Records Administration facility in the city last summer as an unpaid intern, pleaded guilty to one federal count of stealing government property.
The stolen documents were worth $30,000 and all but three have been recovered, prosecutors said. McTague, of Philadelphia, put about 150 of them for sale online and actually completed sales on about half of those, prosecutors said.
McTague, who holds master's degrees in history and library science, told investigators that he took the documents out of the building hidden inside a yellow legal pad.
Neither McTague nor defense lawyer Eric Sitarchuk would comment after the hearing.
The stolen Civil War-era documents included telegrams concerning the troops' weaponry, the Lincoln death announcement sent to soldiers, and a letter from famed cavalryman James Ewell Brown Stuart, prosecutors said.
Paul Brachfeld, inspector general for the National Archives, said the documents are invaluable in that they help tell the history of the United States.
``I don't see certain documents as being less important. They're all the history of id the idea for the house came in a conversation she had with Steve Groene, Shasta's father, in September.
``He said, 'You know, we're homeless,''' Smock recalled. ``I said, 'What?' I was shocked, totally shocked. I just couldn't believe that our Shasta, who's gone through layer after layer of horror, doesn't have a home.''
Todd Stam, owner of Aspen Homes and Development, is in charge of construction.
``This has been an amazing project,'' Stam told The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane, Wash.
``The whole community really stepped forward,'' added Fred Glisson, owner of Riverstone Stamp Concrete.
Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem, one of those at the groundbreaking ceremony who helped cut the ribbon, said the amount of help from area residents didn't surprise her.
``It's what the community does,'' Bloem said.
Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesmanreview.com
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) A 40-year-old intern with the National Archives pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing 164 Civil War documents including the War Department's announcement of President Lincoln's death and selling most of them on eBay.
Denning McTague, who worked at a National Archives and Records Administration facility in the city last summer as an unpaid intern, pleaded guilty to one federal count of stealing government property.
The stolen documents were worth $30,000 and all but three have been recovered, prosecutors said. McTague, of Philadelphia, put about 150 of them for sale online and actually completed sales on about half of those, prosecutors said.
McTague, who holds master's degrees in history and library science, told investigators that he took the documents out of the building hidden inside a yellow legal pad.
Neither McTague nor defense lawyer Eric Sitarchuk would comment after the hearing.
The stolen Civil War-era documents included telegrams concerning the troops' weaponry, the Lincoln death announcement sent to soldiers, and a letter from famed cavalryman James Ewell Brown Stuart, prosecutors said.
Paul Brachfeld, inspector general for the National Archives, said the documents are invaluable in that they help tell the history of the United States.
``I don't see certain documents as being less important. They're all the history of id the idea for the house came in a conversation she had with Steve Groene, Shasta's father, in September.
``He said, 'You know, we're homeless,''' Smock recalled. ``I said, 'What?' I was shocked, totally shocked. I just couldn't believe that our Shasta, who's gone through layer after layer of horror, doesn't have a home.''
Todd Stam, owner of Aspen Homes and Development, is in charge of construction.
``This has been an amazing project,'' Stam told The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane, Wash.
``The whole community really stepped forward,'' added Fred Glisson, owner of Riverstone Stamp Concrete.
Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem, one of those at the groundbreaking ceremony who helped cut the ribbon, said the amount of help from area residents didn't surprise her.
``It's what the community does,'' Bloem said.
Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesmanreview.com