[CPProt.net] Insider theft: Ex-Cosmosphere chief's trial to open

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Ex-Cosmosphere chief's trial to open

The Associated Press
October 19, 2005


WICHITA - Jurors are expected to hear opening arguments today in the federal
trial of the man who turned a small-town planetarian into a nationally
recognized space museum.

Jury selection began Tuesday in the case against Max Ary, the former
director of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson.

Ary is accused of stealing items from the collection, but his attorneys have
contended in earlier hearings the items actually belong to Ary.

He has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he made profits on a number of
artifacts, including ones on loan from NASA.

He faces 19 federal counts ranging from mail fraud to money laundering.

Ary, 55, ended his 27-year tenure at the museum in May 2002. He later took a
job at the Kirkpatrick Science and Air Space Museum at Omniplex in Oklahoma
City, where he was replaced Monday as executive director.

Ary's contract expired in August, according to the board of trustees. He had
been on leave since being indicted in April.

Items Ary is accused of stealing include the nose cone of a rocket, an
astronaut's in-flight T-shirt, a control panel from Air Force One and an
Apollo 12 water valve.

Ary has said he is looking forward to proving his innocence.

The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of up to five years in federal prison
and a $250,000 fine on each of the wire fraud and mail fraud counts.

He faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine on each
count of theft and each count of transportation of stolen property.

Two of the counts ask for the return of any property or proceeds Ary
received as a result of the alleged crimes.