well, don't keep us in suspense here...is he doing time? On Apr 4, 2005, at 6:44 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> > In a message dated 4/4/2005 3:52:46 PM Pacific Standard Time, > [email protected] writes: > > However, if an expert gives a seller advice "your collection is only > worth > $50'000 but I collect civil war stuff and would pay you a premium > price of > $80'000 because I'm really fanatic about civil war items" and it > turns out that > the real value was $800'000, thats clearly a fraud. > > > > --------------------------- > That's exactly what happened with one of the roadshow's Civil War > experts: > > "Ten months after a federal grand jury charged him with fraud, > nationally > known relic dealer Russ Pritchard III pleaded guilty Dec. 21 (2001) to > a > 21-count criminal indictment that detailed his repeated victimization > of > unsuspecting owners of Civil War artifacts. . . . > > The guilty findings for the father and confession by the son, plus > earlier > guilty pleas by their partner, George Juno, 40, close a chapter in a > long-running saga that has gripped the Civil War community for nearly > four years. > > The threesome, doing business as the American Ordnance Preservation > Association (AOPA), gained prominence at the top of the Civil War > militaria field as > they procured millions of dollars in relics for Harrisburg's new > National > Civil War Museum, and two of them ? Pritchard III and Juno ? made > regular > appearances on the popular PBS television series "Antiques Roadshow." > . . . > > In 1995-96, Pritchard III and AOPA "fraudulently" purchased from George > Pickett V, great-great-grandson of Confederate Gen. George Pickett, his > ancestor's kepi worn at Gettysburg, a bloody uniform sleeve, letters > to his wife > LaSalle and numerous other items, paying Pickett a false appraisal > price of > $87,500 and then promptly selling them to the City of Harrisburg for > $880,000. > > Pritchard III "falsely represented himself" to Pickett as a purchasing > agent > for the museum, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman, > and > "falsely stated that he was not receiving a profit from the purchase." > > Pritchard III also "borrowed" several unpublished Civil War photos > from the > Pickett collection but later returned copies of the images, keeping the > originals. > > In July 1996 Pritchard III and Juno staged phony appraisals on two > "Antiques > Roadshow" programs, supplying friends with swords and providing them > with > fake stories about them, to which they pleaded guilty. > > In early 1997, descendants of Union Maj. Samuel Wilson who had > watched the > TV shows contacted AOPA for an appraisal of their ancestor's 1864 > presentation > sword. After offering a free appraisal, Pritchard III told the family > the > Harrisburg museum would put the sword on permanent display, bringing > "national > attention" to their ancestor. He appraised the general's sword for > the family > at $8,000. Juno then gave the sword to his father. > > AOPA's first check to the Wilson family bounced. When the family > continued > to press for proof that the museum had purchased the sword, Juno told > them the > museum had decided not to buy it and AOPA had sold it to a collector > for > $10,000. Pritchard III pleaded guilty to signing a false bill of sale > in that > amount. > > . . . > > In August 1997 Pritchard III contacted a descendant of Union Gen. > George > Meade asking to buy a presentation pistol given to Meade at a U.S. > Sanitary > Commission fair in 1864. Pritchard III "falsely represented himself" > as the City > of Harrisburg's purchasing agent and said he was buying the pistol for > the > museum, where it would be "reunited" with other Meade artifacts "and > displayed > in one exhibit for all time." > > Pritchard III appraised the pistol at $180,000 to $200,000. On Oct. > 7, 1997, > he received it from the Meade descendant. On Oct. 14 he and Juno > resold it > to a private collector in Illinois for $385,000. Two days later > Pritchard III > paid the descendant $184,115. On Oct. 17 Pritchard III faxed the > mayor of > Harrisburg a letter saying the Meade descendant would not sell the > pistol. > . . . . > > In September 1996 William Day, a descendant of Lt. Col. William Hunt, > provided his ancestor's uniform to Pritchard III's father and partner > in AOPA, > Pritchard Jr., to authenticate. Pritchard Jr. delivered the uniform to > his son, > and they had newly made gold stars placed on the collar. When Day > called in > January 1997 to inquire about the uniform, the two Pritchards "falsely > advised" > him that it was not authentic and had been given away to Goodwill > Industries. > > > In April 1998 Pritchard III sold the Hunt uniform to a dealer in > Georgia for > $45,000. It was sold to another dealer for $51,500 and was sold again > to the > Tennessee State Museum for $67,500. > > . . ." > > And that's just a partial listing. > > Best regards, > Rene Rondeau > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > [email protected] > > Phono-L Archive > http://www.oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/ > > -- Peter [email protected]
