Documents Thief Sentenced As Judge Sends 'Message To The Public'
By Deborah Fitts
August 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A researcher convicted of stealing dozens of Civil War-related documents from the National Archives has been sentenced to two years in prison.
The May 26 sentence was handed down by Judge James Robertson of the U.S. District Court in Washington to Howard W. Harner Jr., 69, of Staunton, Va. Besides the prison term, Harner was sentenced to two years’ supervised release and a $10,000 fine.
Harner pleaded guilty in March to one felony count of theft of major artwork. Prosecutors said he had stolen 118 documents during visits to the Pennsylvania Avenue facility between 1996 and 2002, hiding the papers in his clothing.
He was also ordered to undergo DNA testing. And, an avid gun collector, he was forbidden to possess firearms or other dangerous weapons.
Harner’s attorney urged home detention, noting that his client had cooperated in the investigation and had no previous record. Harner also apologized to the court. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Chasson pointed out that dozens of the stolen documents have not been retrieved, and that on some that were found, signatures had been cut out.
Judge Robertson called Harner’s actions “a crime against history, a fragile commodity that can’t be replaced.” He acknowledged the presence in the courtroom of several employees and officials of the National Archives, and sided with the prosecutors’ wish to “send a message to the public.”
The thefts were discovered by Wayne Motts, an authority on Confederate Gen. Lewis Armistead. Two years ago Motts recognized a letter by Armistead for sale on eBay for $5,000. He had last seen the document at the National Archives, and he promptly contacted Michael Musick, at the time the Archives’ expert on the Civil War. An investigation by the FBI and the Archives’ inspector general’s office ensued.
Motts, a Gettysburg guide and acting director of the Adams County Historical Society in Gettysburg, was honored June 13 at the National Archives for alerting them to the thefts. Among those present for the ceremony were Allen Weinstein, archivist of the United States, and Paul Brachfeld, the Archives’ inspector general.
Motts received a shadow box with items of appreciation, and a certificate. He was also allowed to handle the 42 documents that have so far been recovered.
“I felt very honored to be a part of that and to play a small role in stopping these types of things,” Motts said. “And protecting a part of our history.”
Officials at the Archives still hope to recover the remaining stolen items. They noted that Virginia collector Jim Putbrese purchased several of the documents from Harner and resold them, and they urged those who obtained Civil War-era papers from Putbrese to contact the Archives. Putbrese himself was not charged with any wrongdoing.
In pursuit of the items, on April 4 and 5 Musick and his wife, Judy Thorne, who is also retired from the Archives, searched Harner’s home in Staunton as private contractors working for the Archives. They were joined by Kelly Maltagliati of the Archives’ inspector general’s office, chief investigator on the case, plus her supervisor. Harner had been given three months’ notice of the search. None of the stolen items were found.
Musick said, however, that the search turned up “numerous” rare and out-of-print Civil War books, with call numbers and bookplates from the University of Virginia Library and Mary Baldwin College, among others. Harner admitted to stealing them, Musick said, and “We took steps to have all these volumes returned to their rightful owners.”
Musick said Harner, “a dedicated relic hunter,” had researched Confederate troop positions in Virginia for the last 30 years. Harner had corresponded with many institutions with historical holdings, Musick said, mostly in Virginia and along the East Coast, but also including the Huntington Library in California and the Library of Congress’s manuscript division.
In his plea agreement in March, Harner admitted to receiving $47,314 for the stolen items. They included letters and other communications by Armistead, Robert E. Lee, George Custer, George Crook, U.S. Grant, George Pickett, William T. Sherman, Alfred Pleasonton and others.
