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bluedigger

(17,077 posts)
Wed Aug 17, 2016, 10:37 PM Aug 2016

Doctor Pleads Guilty to Looting Artifacts from Death Valley

DEATH VALLEY, CA –A doctor residing in Mammoth Lakes recently pleaded guilty to removing archeological resources from Death Valley National Park and the Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest.

On September 17, 2015, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Jonathan Cornelius Bourne, 59, charging him with 21 counts of violations of the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) in Death Valley National Park and other public lands.

On August 15, Bourne pleaded guilty to two counts of unauthorized excavation, removal, transportation, damage, or defacement of archeological resources, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. The two guilty pleas were for actions in Death Valley National Park and the Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest.

The maximum penalty is two years in prison and $20,000 fine for each count. Bourne is scheduled to be sentenced on November 7, 2016 in U.S. District Court. In addition, Bourne is banned from entering public lands administered by the National Park Service, United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for three years.

Mike Reynolds, superintendent of Death Valley National Park, said, "It feels great to have a conviction in this major case!"

"Cultural resources in national parks are irreplaceable," said Wanda Raschkow, an archeologist in Death Valley National Park. "When someone takes something like a bottle from a mining site or an arrowhead, it breaks the link to the stories of that place. It robs all of us of our connection to the past."

Bourne has been collecting artifacts and archeological resources since 1994. He voluntarily turned over to the government an estimated 20,000 archeological items that he collected from public lands. Bourne has agreed to pay $249,372 in restitution to the United States, which will go toward curating the artifacts.

According to the plea agreement, on January 10, 2011, Bourne altered a large prehistoric site in Death Valley National Park and removed a tool made from a bighorn sheep horn and three incised stone tablets over 100 years old, which were found in Bourne's home.

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/news/guilty-plea-for-looting.htm
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Doctor Pleads Guilty to Looting Artifacts from Death Valley (Original Post) bluedigger Aug 2016 OP
Put this creep in stocks. Unpardonable crime against everyone. Selfish bastard. Judi Lynn Aug 2016 #1

Judi Lynn

(160,218 posts)
1. Put this creep in stocks. Unpardonable crime against everyone. Selfish bastard.
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 03:05 AM
Aug 2016

Found this, after seeing your article, looking for more about this lout:


Doctor accused of looting ancient artifacts is indicted on 21 counts

Louis SahagunBy Louis Sahagun•Contact Reporter

October 4, 2015, 5:50 PM

A Mono County doctor has been indicted on 21 felony counts related to the alleged looting of Native American artifacts from tribal and public lands including Death Valley National Park. The case against Jonathan Bourne, 59, an anesthesiologist at Mammoth Hospital, stems from a yearlong investigation launched after photos of him digging a wooden bow out of a melting glacier in the High Sierra appeared on a hiking club's website.

A federal grand jury in Fresno charged Bourne with eight counts of unlawful transportation of archaeological resources removed from public lands; six counts of unauthorized excavation, removal, damage or defacement of archaeological resources removed from public lands; six counts of injury or depredation to government property; and one count of possession of stolen government property.

If convicted of all counts, Bourne faces up to 98 years in prison, according to the indictment. He would also face forfeiture of all vehicles and equipment used in connection with the violations, the indictment said.
Bourne, who lives in a mansion overlooking the High Sierra ski resort community of Mammoth Lakes, is scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Fresno on Monday. Federal prosecutors are expected to recommend a sentence of less than 20 years in prison, authorities said.

U.S. Forest Service special agents searched Bourne's mansion in December, recovering an estimated 30,000 ancient items representing a historical record spanning more than 11,000 years, authorities said. The agents also seized logbooks containing details of Bourne's archaeological finds. The indictment lists 32 confiscated items including dart points, obsidian cutting tools and three etched stone tablets allegedly unlawfully removed from Death Valley National Park; glass beads believed to have been removed from a cremation and burial site in the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest; and the taking of the juniper bow excavated from the melting glacier in the Sierra National Forest.


(By subscription, only.)
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/

[center] ~ ~ ~ [/center]
Ancient artifacts yield a modern dilemma: What can be collected legally?
Date 09/14/2015 - 10:29

By Louis Sahagun

SEPTEMBER 12, 2015 ; Reporting from Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

In one photograph, Dr. Jonathan Bourne crouches over an ancient wooden bow sticking out of a melting glacier in the High Sierra. In another picture, he is digging the bow out of the ice with a rock.

The photos of Bourne, an anesthesiologist at Mammoth Hospital, appeared on a hiking-club website — and soon, he had visitors.

Federal agents searched Bourne's mansion in December, recovering roughly 30,000 ancient items they believe were unlawfully taken from hundreds of public land sites across the West: stone mortars, glass beads, projectile points and pendants. They also seized logbooks containing details of his archaeological finds.

Bourne, 59, has not been charged. Federal authorities are only now close to finishing their investigation, said Michael Grate, a U.S. Forest Service special agent. Wooden splinters recovered at the High Sierra glacier by federal archaeologists matched the bow in Bourne's possession, officials said.

. . .

http://obs-traffic.museum/ancient-artifacts-yield-modern-dilemma-what-can-be-collected-legally

Several photos of this person hard at work pilfering objects from the heritage of the descendants of the people who made them. Google images:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1160&bih=548&q=Jonathan+Cornelius+Bourne&oq=Jonathan+Cornelius+Bourne&gs_l=img.12...548.548.0.1608.1.1.0.0.0.0.120.120.0j1.1.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.0.0.nA4I_rWhigI#imgrc=_

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