Russ Pritchard Jr. Sentenced, To Repay Buyer
By Deborah Fitts
July '02
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.

Russ Pritchard Jr., 62, of Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced May 24 to six months in a halfway house and ordered to pay $35,000 in restitution for stealing a Confederate uniform from a museum.

Pritchard Jr. was the first of the three principals of the former Bryn Mawr-based American Ordnance Preservation Association to be sentenced in a wide-ranging case of theft and fraud involving the lucrative field of Civil War relic dealing.

His son, Russ Pritchard III, and their associate George Juno have also been convicted. The sentencing hearing for Pritchard III is scheduled for July 11, and for Juno Aug. 1. Both victims and supporters will be permitted to address the judge.

A well-known figure in the world of militaria, Pritchard Jr. formerly served for many years as executive director and curator of the Civil War Library & Museum in Philadelphia, which houses one of the most significant collections of Union memorabilia.

Pritchard Jr.'s prosecution was confined to the incident in 1996 when a cousin in Memphis, Bill Day, asked him to authenticate items belonging to his great-great-grandfather, a Confederate officer. Day had come into possession of his ancestor's relics and had opened his ancestor's home as a house-museum.

Pritchard Jr. selected a uniform frock coat and pants. He eventually reported back to Day that it was a costume and had been given to charity. In fact, Pritchard Jr. and his son had had gold stars made for the collar and sold the uniform to Stone Mountain, Ga., relic dealer John Sexton for $45,000.

When charged last year, Pritchard Jr. pleaded innocent. A federal jury convicted him in January. During the sentencing hearing, Pritchard Jr.'s defense attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, argued that his client was a victim of his son, Pritchard III.
During the trial, Pritchard Jr. said he was never aware of the value of the uniform and didn't realize that his son had resold it. Prosecution witnesses demonstrated, however, that Pritchard Jr. was often called upon to appraise Civil War relics, including uniforms.

Bergstrom asked U.S. District Court Judge Petrese Tucker to sentence his client to probation instead of the halfway house. But Tucker agreed with the argument of Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman, that an example needed to be made.

"The national dealers and collectors are waiting to see what happens," Goldman asserted. But he did not succeed in convincing Tucker to send Pritchard Jr. to a regular prison. Federal sentencing guidelines called for a term of 15 to 21 months.

Goldman explained afterward, "If the defense can convince the judge that what the defendant did was aberrant behavior, she can go lower." Pritchard Jr. had no prior convictions.

Goldman said the halfway house in Memphis, run by the federal Bureau of Prisons, represented the "least restrictive incarceration setting." Pritchard Jr. may be allowed out during the day if he has work to go to, but will be confined at night.

A half-dozen individuals spoke at the hearing regarding Pritchard Jr.'s good character. Tucker said she had also received several letters, both for and against him.

The $35,000 restitution was to be paid to Sexton. The uniform had changed hands twice more, however. "We got all the victims together," said Goldman, "and basically everyone agreed to reverse the transactions."

According to Goldman, Sexton agreed to reimburse relic dealer Gary Hendershott, for the $51,500 that Hendershott paid Sexton for the uniform; and Hendershott, in turn, agreed to reimburse the Tennessee State Museum the $67,500 that the museum paid him.

Day agreed to let the museum keep his ancestor’s uniform, so the museum gave him the $67,500. Pritchard Jr. was also ordered to pay a $4000 fine.

Additional Information:
On Aug. 25, 2003, Mr. Gary Hendershott contacted The Civil War News to provide the following clarification of the transaction and set the record straight.

Mr. Hendershott states, with regard to the series of exchanges and reimbursements, that the following is the sequence of events and that the frock coat is now in the collection of the Tennessee State Museum. His statement follows:

"I bought the same uniform twice for the same amount each time. At one point in time, I actually had $103,600 tied up in this uniform having originally purchased it from Sexton for $51,800. Although during the trial it became apparent that the uniform belonged to William Day.

"Mr. Day agreed to sell me the uniform again for the same amount that I previously paid Sexton which was $51,800. Thus, in order to get clear title on the uniform I purchased it twice and received a notarized bill of sale signed by William Day on January 30, 2002.

"The Tennessee State Museum has the uniform in their permanent collection. John Sexton reimbursed my company by way of $40,000 in trade and $11,800 in two checks which totaled $51,800, which was my original purchase price in 1998."