Former Space Museum Director Gets Three Years in Prison for Theft

U.S. District Court Judge J. Thomas Marten also ordered an additional supervised release period of 36 months that will follow the prison sentence.

"I think a prison sentence is important in your case," said Judge Marten while delivering his decision, "for people to get the message," The Wichita Eagle reports.

Ary will also pay restitution for the stolen space artifacts, which includes property that belonged to NASA and the Cosmosphere. A hearing to be held within the next month will determine the amount.

Ary, 56, was convicted November 1, 2005, on a dozen federal charges, including three counts each of mail fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property, and two counts each of wire fraud, theft of government property and money laundering.

A routine audit conducted by the Cosmosphere staff in 2003 first found that hundreds of artifacts were missing from the museum's collection, which in turn led to the discovery of the unauthorized sales. Ary maintained he was innocent, testifying that he had made mistakes and confused museum and government property with his own.

For full coverage and history of this case, including an itemization of the artifacts that went missing, see collectSPACE.com.

• Former Museum Director Indicted in Theft of Space Artifacts

Copyright 2006 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.