The following article appeared in the Hartford Courant. --ECW
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Thief's Next 3 1/2 Years Mapped Out
Judge Says Prison Term Reflects Dealer's Cooperation In Recovery Of
`Treasures'
By KIM MARTINEAU
Courant Staff Writer
September 28 2006
NEW HAVEN -- The librarians spoke eloquently and from the heart. They
evoked the words of our Founding Fathers and described how Forbes Smiley,
responsible for one of the great map heists in recent times, had become a
symbol: of the vulnerability of libraries, the merchandising of history and
the fragility of the public trust.
Hours later, the librarians walked out of the federal courtroom
dejected. Smiley, the map dealer who crossed two continents looting the
world's finest libraries of nearly 100 maps, was sentenced Wednesday to 3½
years in prison.
"That amounts to 12 days in prison for every map stolen," said Clive
Field, head of special collections at the British Library, on the courthouse
steps. "That's not much of a deterrent to other would-be thieves."
E. Forbes Smiley III, 50, had faced up to six years in prison under
sentencing guidelines but at the government's request, the judge gave Smiley
a break for cooperating. Smiley was also ordered to pay $1.9 million to the
map dealers and collectors he duped into buying stolen goods.
U.S. District Judge Janet Arterton said she wanted to send a dual
message. "If you steal humankind's treasures, you will go to prison," she
said. "But if you help recover them, that will be taken into account."
She noted that Smiley's time in jail will roughly match the duration
of his crime spree. Just a few months ago, Smiley estimated the thefts took
place over eight years but this month he cut that figure by half, after
re-examining his business records, his lawyer said.
Most of the 98 maps Smiley stole have been recovered, largely with his
help. Because of poor record keeping, the libraries didn't realize they were
missing half of those maps even after they inventoried their collections,
his lawyer, Richard Reeve, said.
To help pay for his crimes, Smiley has put his home on Martha's
Vineyard and his summer place in central Maine on the market but the
proceeds from any sale will probably not cover all that he owes. As he heads
off to jail broke, his business in tatters, few of the map dealers he hurt
are expecting full compensation. Several are on the verge of bankruptcy,
prosecutors said Wednesday. None were in the courtroom.
Just before sentencing, Smiley cleared his throat, took a deep breath
and expressed his shame and remorse. He spoke confidently, without notes,
wearing a dark and boxy blazer. Three friends from high school and college
sat in the front row of seats.
"I am very anxious to meet my obligations and pay back the money that
those institutions and dealers both need and deserve," he said. "I have read
all the victim-impact letters. ... I found them very powerful."
He did not answer the big question: Why? In a brief filed last week,
prosecutors suggested that Smiley may have acted in revenge against
institutions he felt had slighted him or lifted his research without giving
credit. Prosecutors also noted his rising debts and expensive tastes.
The judge agreed to send Smiley to a low-security prison camp in
Devens, Mass., near Worcester, so he could be close to his wife and
6-year-old son and receive medical treatment for his heart condition. His
wife, Lisa, was not in the courtroom.
The FBI agents were among the last to leave the courthouse. They
shoved three cardboard boxes of stolen maps into the backseat of a black
sports car. They brought the maps for Arterton to review before sentencing,
which she did with "awe," she said later.
The leniency showed Smiley was taken hardest by the British Library,
which had asked Arterton to go beyond the sentencing guidelines. The library
suspects Smiley of stealing more maps and thinks that for all his
cooperating, he has more secrets to share. All of the libraries except the
Newberry Library in Chicago are thought to be missing additional maps.
Robert Goldman, the British Library's hired gun, faulted the
government for not letting the library see Smiley's business records or
statements to the FBI. "To this day, we still don't know the names of the
dealers he dealt with," he said.
Smiley's spree ended on June 8, 2005, when a Yale librarian found an
X-Acto blade on the floor near his research table. Yale Det. Martin
Buonfiglio trailed Smiley through downtown New Haven and eventually seized
eight maps stashed in his sport coat and briefcase. The detective was at
Smiley's sentencing Wednesday and joked with his boss during the break.
"It's like deer hunting," he said. "You end up being in the right
place at the right time."
This summer, Smiley pleaded guilty to a charge of "theft of major
artwork" and admitted stealing nearly 100 maps from Yale, Harvard, New York
and Boston public libraries, the Newberry and British libraries. All had
representatives speak at the sentencing.
The government defended the 42-month sentence as fair. But William
Reese, a rare books dealer who has advised Yale over the past year, said he
found the short prison term disappointing. "It doesn't send any message of
deterrence at all," he said.
Next month, Smiley will be sentenced on larceny charges arising from
his original arrest at Yale.