Sticky Fingers, 1775 flintlock rifle missing since 1971 Recovered

[Salvage Sailor]

News item

 

Man who stole Revolutionary-era rifle from museum decades ago sentenced to 1 day

Thomas Gavin stole the 1775 flintlock rifle from the Valley Forge State Park Museum and kept it in his barn for 47 years. The rifle has been returned.

 

Full article here

 

A 78-year-old Pennsylvania man who stole a rare Revolutionary-era rifle from a museum in 1971 was sentenced Tuesday to one day in prison and a year of home confinement, prosecutors said.

 

The man, Thomas Gavin, of Pottstown, was also fined $25,000 and ordered to pay restitution of $23,385.

 

[sundance]

Mixed feelings about the sentence. Glad the rifle is back where it belongs and glad about financial consequences of $48,000.+.

[normaninvasion]

Interesting article. I'm sure there is a lot more cases like this that will come out. I feel like I heard that museum theft was pretty common in th 1960s-80s.

[Dirk]

Glad it’s back to its rightful owners. 

[12thengr]

I just heard this story being discussed on NPR, gist is the same except the value of the rifle was quoted as $ 875,000. Now that is news!

[daskrieg]

This is in my area. He got one day in jail...lol