A 23-year veteran of the Royal Australian Navy pleaded guilty to four counts of larceny March 17 in connection with the theft of nearly 1,000 books stolen from libraries across the country over the past four years. Michael Szewczyk, 44, was arrested in Ryde, New South Wales, February 25 when 10 police officers arrived to execute a search warrant and found him packing for a move to Western Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported March 18.
A librarian at the Royal United Services Institute in Sydney discovered that 445 valuable military books were missing and suspected Szewczyk, who was a regular visitor on Friday afternoons. After the Naval Historical Society of Australia library near Perth reported 38 titles missing, police checked records to see who had visited both libraries frequently and the trail led to the seaman.
Szewczyk later admitting taking books—many of them on the Gulf War, Australian railroads, and French naval history—from Australian Defence Force libraries and the Ryde Municipal Library. His lawyer, John Sutton, told the Herald that he did not steal the books for financial gain or to support an alcohol or gambling habit.
A Gulf War veteran with an untarnished record, Szewczyk has now been banned from Australian naval libraries. He faces up to five years in prison.
Posted March 19, 2004.