Harsh Penalties for Battlefield Looters*

Last spring, National Park Service authorities caught two camouflage-clad men hunting for artifacts on the Petersburg National Battlefield. An investiga- tion of the pair's activities led to the recovery of more than 2,000 Civil War artifacts valued at $4,500. The incident represented the largest Civil War-related Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) violation on record.

On October 9th, 1997, the defendants, Jeffery Blevins and John Walker, were sentenced in federal district court following their guilty pleas on charges of felony conspiracy to violate ARPA. Blevins was sentenced to five months in prison and Walker to four months. Upon release, each will undergo a year's supervised probation, including a term of home incarceration equivalent to their jail time, at their own expense. Each defendant was ordered to pay restitution of $25,467.08 to the Department of the Interior for destroying the archaeological record. In handing down his sentence, the judge expressed the hope that Civil War "buffs who have a craving for artifacts will be tempered in the future."

Calculating Loss at Looted Sites

How do you put a dollar amount on the loss caused by archaeological looting? According to ARPA regulations (43 CFR 7.14), value is appraised in terms of the expected cost of retrieving scientific information from the site had it not been violated. This includes the cost of preparing a research design, conducting field work, laboratory analysis, and preparing reports. In addition, the cost of restoration and repair (site stabilization and curation of artifacts) can also be used to calculate the loss caused by looters. Fair market value is used to calculate commercial worth of artifacts.  --Common Ground, v.2 no. 3/4

*above from American Battlefield Protection Program publication "Battlefield Update," Winter, 1998.