National Archives Employee charged with Theft of Civil War Documents
By Deborah Fitts
April 2002
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.

A "trusted employee" of the National Archives has been charged with stealing and selling hundreds of documents and photographs in his keeping that were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to federal prosecutors, Shawn P. Aubitz, 45, of Mor-risville, Pa., included numerous Civil War-related items among the documents that he stole from the Archives' Mid-Atlantic regional facility, located at 900 Market St. in Philadelphia.

The spree, between August 1996 and July 1999, was discovered in March 2000, when a National Park Service employee spotted a document for sale on the Internet auction site eBay and told the Archives he suspected that it was theirs.

Once confronted, said Rich Manieri, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, Aubitz "volunteered" information on the other items. The list he provided was not necessarily comprehensive, however, Manieri said. "He can't remember."

Archives Inspector General Paul Brachfeld said Aubitz had been considered a "trusted employee" before the thefts were uncovered. He worked at the Archives in Philadelphia for 14 years and "had unique access to records" because he organized exhibits, Brachfeld said.

In a press conference Feb. 11, United States Attorney Patrick Meehan, of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said the crime "jeopardized our nation's ability to preserve its history for future generations and for review by historians."

Aubitz was indicted earlier that day. He was charged with one count of theft of government property, which comprises all the stolen items. At presstime he was expected to plead guilty shortly, and will face a term of imprisonment, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer, who is handling the prosecution.

This is believed to be the first instance of theft of historical documents by an employee in the 68-year history of the National Archives and Records Administration.

To date, 59 of the nearly 500 stolen items have been recovered, with investigators following leads provided by Aubitz himself. Zauzmer indicated that the indictment was delayed for two years while the painstaking retrieval was under way.

Since inventories at the Archives are often incomplete, "There's no way of knowing" how many other items may be missing, Zauzmer said. Aubitz "told us everybody he could think of" that he sold to, both individual collectors and on eBay, Zauzmer said.

The investigators "worked hard" at the retrieval, but "I think we're probably at the end of the road."

Among the items recovered were an 1863 warrant to the U.S. marshal to seize Arlington House, the home of Robert E. Lee, and five presiden-tial pardons signed by Abraham Lincoln and 29 signed by Ulysses S. Grant.

Other recovered items included 37 pardons signed by presidents Madison, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Andrew Johnson and Hayes, a document signed by President John Adams, and another signed by President James Madison and Secretary of State James Monroe.
A number of the stolen items dealt with admiralty "prizes," including the capture of Confederate blockade runners. They included a court document signed by Chief Justice Roger Taney on Nov. 12, 1853, regarding the schooner Telegraph; an 1851 indictment in Pennsylvania for hindering the capture of a runaway slave; an 1862 bill of lading from the blockade runner Volant; 1863 ships' registries of the Confederate vessels Cecilia and Charleston; and others.

Also stolen were 32 documents relating to land grants and the slave trade, 316 photos taken by astronauts in space and on the moon, and 76 photos "taken during American conflicts."

Zauzmer noted that the many documents relating to Civil War naval affairs reflect the fact that Philadelphia was the closest location for federal record storage to Confederate waters.

Aubitz was terminated when the thefts were uncovered two years ago. Since then, he has been cooperating with investigators. Zauzmer said that Aubitz explained to investigators why he stole the documents, but Zauzmer declined to disclose the reason at this time.

The government has put an estimated value of $200,00 on the stolen items. Zauzmer said that under the sentencing guidelines for theft, Aubitz could face a prison term of "much lower" than the 10-year established maximum. But Zauzmer said he would urge a longer term: "I'm going to make the argument that this is not an ordinary theft case," he said.

None of the buyers of the items are believed to have knowingly purchased stolen items, but they had to hand them back without compensation. Zauzmer said their recourse is against Aubitz, and he added that restitution will be sought as part of sentencing.

U.S. Archivist John W. Carlin said he was "outraged" by the theft of records by an employee. "Our employees are entrusted with the most important documentary evidence of our nation's history, and this individual has abused that trust," Carlin said.

In the wake of the discovery, Carlin appointed a task force to review internal security measures. Heading it is Tom Mills, assistant archivist for regional records services.

"Generally our security is very good, but there's always room for improvement," Mills acknowledged. He noted that the Archives, headquartered on the Mall in Washington and in College Park, Md., and with 13 regional facilities including the Market Street site, has billions of documents in its care.

The fact that investigators don't have detailed inventories to work with is "pretty typical" of large archival facilities, Mills said, particu-larly in view of the "explosion of information and paper" characteristic of the modern era.

"It's extremely, prohibitively costly to get that item-level control over documents," Mills explained. The task force's recommendations, according to Mills, will include improved physical security, staff training, and better control of collections.

A letter was circulated asking major autograph dealers to be on the lookout for the stolen items, and well-known document buyers, dealers and "Civil War buffs" have been contacted.

Now that the case has been made public, Mills said, there may be a further effort to alert the public. "A buyer should always beware to investigate the origins of a document they may buy, particularly off of eBay," Mills said.

He added that he hoped the case would serve as a warning to others in a position to loot the Archives.

"It's important for people to realize that there are serious consequences to stealing from the country's archival heritage."