Former National Archives Curator
Charged with Document Theft
A former archivist with the National Archives and Records Administration regional office in Philadelphia was charged February 11 with stealing documents worth about $100,000 and selling them on eBay.
Shawn P. Aubitz, who worked for NARA from 1981 to 1999 and currently teaches history at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania, is accused of taking dozens of presidential pardons signed by James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, and others; Civil War documents, including an 1863 warrant to seize the estate of Robert E. Lee; orders for the seizure of slave ships; and hundreds of autographed photos of U.S. astronauts.
Patrick L. Meehan, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said the thefts “jeopardized our nation’s ability to preserve its history for future generations and for review by historians,” the Associated Press reported February 13. U.S. Assistant Attorney Robert Zauzmer said the thefts were uncovered in 1999 when an employee of the National Park Service contacted authorities after seeing an important document for sale on eBay. Aubitz resigned shortly afterwards as a result of the criminal probe.
Aubitz’s attorney Jodeen Hobbs told reporters that her client was cooperating with the investigation, but that he had financial problems and “some mental health issues that have been and continue to be addressed.” She said that so far half of the stolen documents have been recovered.
NARA officials said Aubitz is thought to be the first employee in its history to be prosecuted for document theft.
Posted February 18, 2002.
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