[MSN] Map thief from Mass. gets five years in Conn. prison

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Map thief from Mass. gets five years in Conn. prison

October 14, 2006

NEW HAVEN, Conn. --A renowned dealer from Massachusetts who admitted that he stole nearly 100 rare and expensive maps from libraries worldwide received a five-year state prison sentence Friday.

E. Forbes Smiley III, 50, of Chilmark, Mass., will serve the time concurrent with the 3 1/2-year federal sentence he is scheduled to start on Jan. 4. His attorney, Richard Reeve, said Smiley probably will spend about three years in prison if he behaves while behind bars.

Smiley pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in New Haven in June to one count of theft of major artwork in the theft of a map from Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

He was caught when a librarian discovered a razor blade on the floor near the spot where he had been perusing books of maps.

Smiley admitted taking 97 maps over eight years from the New York and Boston public libraries, the Newberry Library in Chicago, Harvard University library and British Library in London.

He later pleaded guilty to three larceny charges in state court in the Yale thefts.

The total value of the stolen items, many of which he sold to other dealers, was estimated around $3 million. All but six of the missing maps have been recovered.

Smiley, at one time a respected maps dealer, also must pay almost $2 million in restitution. He was apologetic when his state prison sentence was handed down Friday in New Haven Superior Court.

"I'm aware of the serious harm I've done to the institutions, to the dealers and to my friends and family," he said. "I've hurt them very, very badly. I'm deeply sorry I did that. I regret it."

Superior Court Judge Richard Damiani rejected a request by Smiley's attorney to reduce the state sentence, and read aloud from letters submitted by librarians and rare map dealers describing the crimes as "a theft from humanity" and "reprehensible."

An official from Illinois State University wrote that Smiley should not get a lighter sentence "just because he comes off as a gentleman. He is like the friendly criminal portrayed in movies. They are portrayed as being cute and lovable."

The oldest maps that Smiley admitted to stealing dated back to the 1500s, and some are the first records of settlements, territories and discoveries in America, experts said.

His state and federal sentences will run at the same time, with Smiley eligible for release from federal prison after three years. In state court, he can apply for parole after serving half his time.

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