Barry Landau Pleads Guilty to Theft of Historical Documents

Barry Landau yesterday pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft charges related to stealing historical documents from several institutions along the east coast.  In December 2011, Landau’s attorney filed a motion to suppress evidence of the crime found by federal agents.  But yesterday Landau entered a plea agreement with the Maryland United States Attorney’s Office.  Sentencing will be held on May 7, 2012 [UPDATE: Rescheduled to June 27, 2012].

Landau admitted in his plea in federal district court to taking historical documents from museums in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut and selling some for financial gain.  His accomplice, Jason Savedoff pleaded guilty to the same charges in October 2011.

Documents by Alexander Hamilton
were stolen by Landau and Savedoff.
Library of Congress image.

Institutions targeted by the pair included the Maryland Historical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Connecticut Historical Society, the University of Vermont, the New York Historical Society, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library.  They pretended to be researchers and walked away with important papers by hiding them in clothing.  According to the US Attorney’s Office, “Landau and Savedoff often took the card catalogue entries and other ‘finding aids,’ making it difficult for the museum to discover that an item was missing. Documents that had been copied on microfilm were often avoided because of the increased possibility the theft would be discovered by the library or repository.”

Items taken included papers by prominent figures in American history, including John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln.   The documents’ historical value is priceless.  On the open market, some of the papers fetched high sums.  For example, four reading copies of speeches by Franklin Roosevelt sold for $35,000.

Both Landau and Savedoff face sentences of up to five years in prison for conspiracy and 10 years for theft.

CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

Landau Files Motion to Suppress in Theft of Major Artwork Prosecution

Baltimore Division courthouse.
Source: US District Court of Maryland

Lawyers for Barry Landau have filed a motion to suppress the evidence the government obtained from a search of Landau’s home.  Landau is charged in Maryland federal district court with conspiracy and theft of major artwork. See here for background.

Landau is scheduled for trial in February and is presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  His co-defendant, Jason Savedoff, entered a guilty plea earlier this year.  Find more information at this link.

Federal agents executed a search warrant on July 12, 2011, reportedly seizing historical documents from Landau’s New York City apartment.  But Landau claims, through his counsel, that the search warrant lacked sufficient probable cause and, therefore, the evidence seized cannot be admitted by the government at trial.

The motion to suppress contends that police observed Savedoff acting suspiciously at the Maryland Historical Society (MHS), and it was Savedoff who was found with historical documents after being arrested.  Despite the fact that Landau was not seen to have acted suspiciously and that Landau did not have possession of any historical documents, police unlawfully placed Landau under arrest and acquired a search warrant based on specious facts, the motion argues.  The motion to suppress explains:

"The affidavit provided to Judge Katz in support the respective applications for search and seizure warrants failed to establish probable cause to permit the searches authorized.  Because there was no evidence recovered from Mr. Landau, and no one observed him stealing any documents or acting inappropriately while at the MHS and prior to his arrest, there was no probable cause to allow a search of his residence and all evidence seized at this apartment pursuant to the search warrant should be suppressed."

CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com.

Savedoff Pleads Guilty to Stealing Historical Documents from Museums and Archives

Jason Savedoff entered a guilty plea this week to charges of conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork and theft of major artwork for his role in the theft of historical documents from museums and archives along the east coast. Savedoff’s co-defendant, Barry Landau, is scheduled for trial. Landau is expected be sentenced to a prison term of 4-12 years in February 2012.

The Washington Post reports: “The pair compiled lists of historical and famous figures, often noting the market value of documents signed by those figures, and Savedoff identified collections with valuable documents that they could target, according to the plea. They used different routines to distract librarians and would stash documents inside sport jackets and overcoats that had been altered to add large hidden pockets.

…

Searches of Landau’s apartment in July turned up thousands of documents. According to Savedoff’s plea, these included documents signed by historical figures from both sides of the Atlantic. They range from American presidents such as George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and John Adams to French leaders such as Marie Antoinette and Napoleon Bonaparte, and German philosopher Karl Marx.”

See the full story at http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/presidential-historians-assistant-pleads-guilty-in-md-document-theft-conspiracy/2011/10/27/gIQApmojMM_story.html.

Photo: President Lincoln taken on the balcony at the White House, March 6, 1865.  Library of Congress, public domain.

CONTACT INFORMATION: http://www.culturalheritagelawyer.com/.

Historical Documents Returned to UVM - Documents Linked to Indicted Pair - Library Loss Prevention Recommended

The University of Vermont (UVM) has recovered historical documents that disappeared from its library. The Burlington Free Press reports on October 4, 2011 that 67 documents were returned to UVM after officials at the National Archives in Washington, DC reported that they had the papers in their possession. “The papers were found after investigators recovered hundreds of items from Barry Landau, 63, who with Jason Savedoff, 24, is accused of conspiring to steal rare documents to sell at a profit, according to government allegations,” the Burlingotn Free Press writes. Source: http://www.blogger.com/www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20111004/NEWS0213/111004005/-1/NEWS/Federal-probe-finds-missing-UVM-documents

A federal grand jury in Maryland handed up a two count indictment on July 28, 2011 against the pair, charging them with Conspiracy to Commit Theft of Major Artwork and Theft of Major Artwork. The indictment alleges that the co-defendants stole from the H. Furlong Baldwin Library at the Maryland Historical Society, the New York Historical Society, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York. The indictment also asserts that they took dozens of items in order to sell, including historical documents of FDR, a letter from Benjamin Franklin to John Paul Jones, and a land grant signed by Abraham Lincoln. An indictment is not a finding of guilt.

In order to secure a conviction of Theft of Major Artwork under 18 USC 668, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants “did steal and obtain by fraud from the care, custody, and control of a museum objects of cultural heritage.” An object of “cultural heritage” is defined by law as one that is under 100 years old and valued at $100,000 or more or an object that is over 100 years old and valued at $5000 or more.

The latest development in the case is a petition filed by Landau to sell assets. The motion, filed on September 23, 2011, asks the court for permission to sell antiques, letters, jewelry, art (including two Andy Warhol prints) so that Landau can raise money to pay for day-to-day expenses. Landau is under court order to not to sell assets without judicial authorization. See a further update on this recent filing at http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-10-07/news/bs-md-landau-asset-sale-20111007_1_barry-h-landau-warhol-print-andy-warhol.

10/25/11 UPDATE: The court granted Landau's motion .

One inexpensive way to help prevent the loss of irreplaceable documents is to maintain historic documents in closed stacks. When a patron requests particular information, a librarian or staff member can obtain the materials in limited quantities (such as three items at a time) and place them at the patron’s table. Some institutions may feel comfortable asking for the patron’s ID, some may not. Regardless, a librarian or staff member should always be visible to the patron and should retrieve the items when the patron is finished, making an inventory of the items. A process like this one can be part of an effective loss-prevention program because it compels a patron to interact with a librarian or staff member directly so that the patron knows he or she has been identified, allows for the librarian or staff member to observe the patron for any signs of suspicion, permits the institution to control the quantity of materials provided to a patron at any one time, and allows for a librarian or staff member to ensure that the materials retrieved are the same ones returned. There are other methods that a certified insitutional risk management consultant can suggest.


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