The FBI Philadelphia Office’s Public Affairs Specialist Carrie Adamowski offers the below piece:
A number of artifacts stolen
during the 1960s and 1970s have been recovered and returned to the owning
museums, announced Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s
Philadelphia Division; Jennifer Williams, United States Attorney for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and Kevin Steele, Montgomery County
(Pennsylvania) District Attorney.
The
FBI’s Art Crime Team and its law enforcement partners repatriated 15
items—historic firearms from the 18th and 19th centuries and a silver concho
belt—to the American Swedish Historical Museum, Hershey Story Museum, Landis
Valley Museum, Mercer Museum, Museum of the American Revolution, and York
County History Center, at a ceremony held at the Museum of the American
Revolution this morning.
FBI art crime agents and
detectives from the Upper Merion Township Police Department recovered the
artifacts as part of an investigation into the 1971 theft and 2018 sale of a
rare surviving 1775 rifle made by Pennsylvania master gunsmith Christian
Oerter.
Thomas
Gavin, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, who pleaded guilty in July to selling the
Oerter rifle, had admitted to stealing it and these additional artifacts. Gavin
was sentenced last month for disposing of the stolen rifle.
“In
law enforcement, as in any profession, there are good days and bad days. Today,
standing here along with our partners, is one of those good days,” said Special
Agent in Charge Maguire. “The absence of the items from these museums
represented not just a physical or financial loss, but a loss to every visitor,
every student, and every researcher who didn’t get to see the items over the
years and missed out on important pieces of our nation’s heritage. The absence
of these items was, for so long, a loss to the historical record. The FBI is
honored to have helped correct that loss and return these artifacts to the
institutions from which they were stolen so long ago.”
“Today’s
event at the Museum of the American Revolution was incredibly exciting and inspirational
to me, as an American history enthusiast, a prosecutor working in historic
Philadelphia for most of my career, and a proud member of a military family,”
said U.S. Attorney Williams. “This collection of artifacts being repatriated to
museums across our District is worthy of celebration, something we rarely get
to do in my line of work. And I want to acknowledge and thank the purchasers of
these items who waived ownership so that they could be returned: you are true
patriots.”
“It
took more than 50 years but now these significant pieces of American history
are going back to their home museums where they can be seen and enjoyed by all
Americans,” said District Attorney Steele. “It’s thanks to the tireless efforts
of two Upper Merion Township Police detectives, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s
Office that these firearms have been recovered and are now safe. I am so proud
of their work.”
Maguire and Williams thanked the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and Upper Merion Township Police Department for their assistance with the investigation. They also credited Assistant United States Attorney K.T. Newton for her efforts in this matter and thanked the staff of the Museum of the American Revolution for their assistance, as well.
