James W. Gilreath, a former American history specialist at the Library of Congress who pled guilty in March to 22 counts of felony book theft, was sentenced July 7 to one year of home detention and a $20,000 fine. Gilreath was arraigned in December after he attempted to sell eight rare books to a Boston antiquarian bookseller, including a two-volume French translation of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.
The U.S. District Court judge also sentenced him to perform 500 hours of community service, undergo counseling, and stay away from the Library of Congress.
According to the July 8 Washington Post, Gilreath had access to the books as part of his duties in LC's special collections until he retired in January 1997. Some of the books came from a collection that once belonged to Horace Traubel, Whitman's confidante and biographer.
During the trial, Gilreath's attorney said that at the time of the offense he was suffering from significant brain damage from an earlier head injury that affected his memory and cognitive skills.
Posted July 13, 1998.