LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5 (UPI) — Los Angeles anesthesiologist Jonathan Bourne, 59, was indicted on 21 felony counts for allegedly stealing Native American artifacts.
Bourne’s indictment is the result of an investigation prompted by August 2014 photos of him digging out a wooden bow from a melting glacier in the High Sierra.
U.S. Forest Service agents searched Bourne’s High Sierra mansion and found nearly 30,000 ancient items from across 11,000 years of history. Logbooks detailing the finds were also located. The court document identified 32 confiscated items including dart points, glass beads, cutting tools and three etched stone tablets.
A court document filed Sept. 17 details the 21 counts, which include unlawful transportation of archaeological resources, unauthorized excavation, removal, damage, defacement, injury to government property and possession of stolen government property.
Native American leaders have in the past complained about the unlawful removal of artifacts on tibral and public lands, saying it destroys culture and jeopardizes scientific data that can be used by archaeologists to better understand North America’s earliest people.
Greg Harvestock, a U.S. Bureau of Land Managmenet archaeologist involved in the case, told the Los Angeles Times that Bourne’s activity is “a serious crime” and that “it damages archaeological records.” He also said tribal members may find “the removal of such items as sacrilegious.”
Mark Coleman, one of Bourne’s attorneys, said Bourne had spotted a piece of wood and extracted it so as to better preserve it in the event that it possessed historical significance.
If Bourne is convicted, he faces up to 98 years in prison in addition to the forfeiture of all vehicles and equipment used to procure the items. Federal prosecutors were expected to seek a sentence of less than 20 years.
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