Landau's Theft of Historical Documents Earns Time Behind Bars

A federal prison in Maryland.
Source: BOP

Historical documents thief Barry Landau was sentenced today to prison.  Landau pleaded guilty to his crime in February, admitting to stealing volumes of treasured documents from cultural institutions throughout the east coast and selling some for financial gain.

Prosecutors for the United States Attorney's Office filed a sentencing memorandum with the federal district court of Maryland (docket 1:11-cr-00415-CCB) today in support of their recommendation to incarcerate Landau.  He faced up to 15 years in prison.

According to a press statement issued by U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein, prosecutors asked for nine years. Judge Catherine Blake ordered seven followed by three years of supervision. She also restitution in the amount of $46,525 to make whole three dealers swindled by Landau.

Rosenstein accurately remarked that “[p]urchasers who innocently buy stolen property do not gain lawful title and are required to return it to the rightful owner. Anyone who has information about historical documents obtained from Barry Landau should contact the National Achives Archival Recovery Team at 800-786-2551.”

One of many institutions targeted by Landau was the University of Vermont.  In October 2011, authorities returned 67 historical papers to UVM that had been recovered.

CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com
(c) Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC