Max
Ary, former Kansas Cosmosphere
and Space Center president was sentenced this morning to 36 months in federal
prison for his role in stealing and selling space artifacts from the museum, The Hutchinson News reports.
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.
Copyright 2006 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
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