Back on May 21, 2008 I posted a story about a thief who stole two letters written by George Washington and one letter written by Abraham Lincoln from the association he headed. Edward Renehan, the former head of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, admitted earlier this year that he took the priceless letters and sold them for $97,000 to a gallery. The letters originally belonged to Theodore Roosevelt.
Now Mr. Renehan has been served his justice. According to this article, Renehan was sentenced this past Friday (September 19, 2008) to 18 months in federal prison for his crime. Renehan pleaded for leniency, claiming he is bi-polar and committed his crime while in the midst of a manic episode. Perhaps. He had faced up to 10 years in prison, so the judge did cut him a bit of a break. Renehan has also been ordered to repay the money he received from the sale of the letters.
Fortunately, federal officials have recovered the documents and will be returned to the Theodore Roosevelt Association.
2 comments:
Hmmm...A.L. was prone to depression yet, like most of us, managed to live life resisting the temptation to steal...everybody has an excuse for thier bad behavior nowadays.
I came across your blog while working on my site for the new 2009 Lincoln Cent coins. The designs were just released today from the US Mint if you wanted to give this a mention.
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