Posted on 01/08/2021 11:47:46 AM PST by SJackson
He pled guilty to charges related to Fort Yellowstone Cemetery excavation
A quest for treasure has led a Utah man into serious legal trouble.
Rodrick Dow Craythorn, 52, dug up graves at Fort Yellowstone Cemetery in search of riches, and now he has pled guilty to excavating or trafficking in archeological resources and injury or depredation to United States property.
Craythorn’s formal admission was entered on Monday, Jan. 4, at the U.S. District Court of Wyoming, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
The avid treasure hunter was allegedly found digging in the preserved cemetery in Yellowstone National Park between Oct. 1, 2019 and May 24, 2020. He was reportedly in search of Forrest Fenn’s buried treasure.
Fenn, a New Mexico art dealer, had announced in 2010 that he buried a chest filled with gold and jewels in the Rocky Mountain area. His announcement inspired treasure hunters to seek out the chest for over a decade.
"The hunt for the Forrest Fenn treasure was often viewed as a harmless diversion, but in this case it led to substantial damage to important public resources," said U.S. Attorney Mark Klaassen in a press statement. "The Defendant let his quest for discovery override respect for the law."
...snip...
Excavating or trafficking in archeological resources has a financial penalty that can be up to $20,000 and could also mean a year of supervised release, according to the Department of Justice. Meanwhile, injury or depredation of U.S. property has a financial penalty of up to $250,000 and potentially up to 10 years of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I've little sympathy for someone digging up a military cemetery.
Wasn’t that “treasure” located last year? The fellow who crated the treasure hunt had sied, but his son announced that someone had found it and the contest was over.
What a DISRESPECTFUL HEATHEN JACKA$$ !!!! Bury him in the ground up to his neck and dump a bucket of Fire Ants in front of his face !!!
There’s always at least one jackass that has to ruin the fun.
Fenn would be disgusted.
Meanwhile, injury or depredation of U.S. property has a financial penalty of up to $250,000 and potentially up to 10 years of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.
Unless it’s in Portland...
That was in the state of Wyoming.
Jack Stuef discovered the stash of gold nuggets, gemstones and pre-Columbian artifacts on June 5 2020.
Forest Fenn, who began the hunt, died months later, Sept. 9 2020. Fenn was 90 y/o.
Fenn and the treasure finder Jack Stuef
Depends who does it. You’ll see charges over yesterday’s broken windows. Not for killing a Vet.
Yes, the treasure was found.
BTW nothing in Fenn’s clues would lead any reasonable person to dig in a cemetery.
Notice how the story title avoids the use of the word “theft” or “robber”.
Fox News wouldn’t want us to be reminded of what just happened to our country would they?
Or are they going to start calling Democrat election fraud a hunt for treasure?
While I agree with you, I am curious as to how many years do you think is required before archeologists can dig up graves for treasure, because we have professional grave robbers doing it all the time with ancient burial sites to find treasure.
The Pyramids come to mind. Many of those excavations in Egypt and South America and other parts of the World are warrior burial sites. I can think of a recent Viking warriors burial site that was dug up.
Just curious, how many years after the soldier is dead is it OK to dig his bones up to steal his jewels and artifacts?
Curious minds want to know,
Personally, I think it should never be allowed, I could care less how many centuries or thousands of years ago the guy died. Leave them all alone. Let the dead bones rot in peace.
I would hate to think that my head could be in a museum some day. Not that I think the World will last much longer, let a lone long enough for my carcass tor my old pocket watch could be valuable to someone.
I am reminded of the ancient South American Inca gal (I think she was Incan) whom Clinton thought was a babe enough for the turf in the back of his old El Camino.
Archeologists do the same thing - just to indians, egyptians, and every other group - but they have PhDs.
They take what they find.
I condemn them all for desecration.
It has been discovered.
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