[CPProt.net] Former president of Phillips Historical Society fined, must pay restitution; guilty in antiques theft

[MSN and CPProt list (Ton Cremers)]

Man pleads guilty in antiques theft 

Former president of Phillips Historical Society fined, must pay restitution 


By BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff Writer

 
FARMINGTON -- The former president of the Phillips Historical Society
pleaded guilty Friday to theft in Franklin County Superior Court for
stealing valuable items from the group's Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes
Railroad collection.

Kenneth Teele, 63, who now lives in Gray, quietly told Justice Joseph Jabar
he was guilty of the charges. Teele had been indicted for felony theft but
in a negotiated plea, the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor. He was
sentenced to a $2,000 fine and ordered to pay restitution. 

Franklin County Assistant District Attorney James Andrews said the case
involved documents stolen from the Historical Society and subsequently
auctioned off at Cyr Auction House in Gray last March. 

Teele's items listed in the company catalog, which included the
association's railroad stock book valued at $10,000 and $12,000 of Teele's
own item, brought in a total of $31,612. 

The proceeds of the sale were seized but were authorized to be released
Friday. Andrews said $21,000 will be turned over to historical group as
restitution and the rest will reimburse L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean
Folkers, who purchased the stock book. 

The stock book included the first stock certificate issued in 1879 for the
narrow gauge railroad. 

Also sold from the society's collection were four postcards of early
Phillips, one dated 1811, which sold for $750.

Three members of the historical society attended the plea hearing Friday and
outside the courtroom, said they were satisfied with the agreement.

"I am glad it is all over This has been going on for more than a year and
now it is time to move on," said Treasurer Jan Norton. "I'd like to use that
money to fix up the exterior of the building. I can see new paint."

The organization's board of directors had been concerned before the theft
about a number of missing items and planned to create a permanent,
electronic catalog of their large collection of railroad and town
memorabilia.

Before they could get to it, however, they were tipped off that some of
their possessions were in the Cyr catalog in advance of a March 2004
railroad memorabilia auction. Attempts to get the sale stopped were
unsuccessful because the group had no documentation. 

The historical group now has a heightened awareness of security, said board
member Chris Hardy. One change is that no one is allowed to remove anything
from the building. 

"That wouldn't have stopped Ken, though, since he had a key," Vice President
Denny Atkinson said. 

Cataloging the collection of railroad and town memorabilia is now under way,
he said. There had been an inventory but the list had disappeared, which
made it difficult for the group to prove that all the items sold belonged to
them. It was Teele's job as president to maintain the inventory books. 

Atkinson, at the time, said the items are part of the town's history. 

"This should be a wake-up call to all historical societies to keep an eye on
their things," he said. 

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen at centralmaine.com 
 


http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/