In an indictment filed on March 15, 2001, in Philadelphia, in a case investigated by the FBI, a grand jury charged that Russ Pritchard, III, and George Juno were engaged in the business of appraising, purchasing, and selling military-related artifacts through their business, American Ordnance Preservation Association (AOPA). The grand jury alleged that the defendants engaged in staged or phony appraisals to enhance their reputation as experts in the appraisal of military artifacts and to attract potential sellers of military artifacts to AOPA. This indictment might have garnered less national publicity had Pritchard III and Juno not also been two of the most popular appraisers on the hit Public Television Station (PBS) series, the Antiques Roadshow. The FBI became involved in the case in July 1999, when the appraisers were sued by the decendants of General George Pickett for defrauding them of their ancestor's property.

The Show

Antiques Roadshow viewers tune in to watch people much like themselves - amateur collectors or history buffs - learn whether their treasure is a rare find or a reproduction. The men and women who volunteer their services as appraisers are extremely knowledgeable about specific periods of history. Their expertise comes from years working in some of the most notable auction houses in the country. They offer their services for free in exchange for national exposure on a highly-popular show.

The show's appeal stems from the drama which unfolds each time an appraiser asks the collector, "Do you have any idea of the value of this item?" Some guests are surprised to hear that the odds and ends pulled from their attics are actually worth a great deal of money; others are disappointed to hear a low appraisal of a treasured family heirloom. Regardless of the appraisal, guests trust they have been given fair and honest values by the experts, which is a cornerstone of the popular show.

The Set-Up

Pritchard III and Juno used the Antiques Roadshow to enhance their reputations as appraisers of military artifacts. In July 1996, the two men met with a man named "Steve" to rehearse a story about a Confederate Civil War sword which they supplied to him. On July 20, 1996, the three men staged a phony Antiques Roadshow session for a later broadcast. "Steve" recounted that the sword had been in his family for years and that, as a child he used it to cut a watermelon. While the cameras rolled, he acted surprised when Pritchard III and Juno appraised the "Watermelon sword" at $35,000.

While Pritchard III and Juno used their appearance on the Antiques Roadshow to bolster their reputations, they also relied on false appraisals and misinformation to obtain valuables from unsuspecting collectors.

The Wilson Sword

In early 1997, descendants of Major Samuel J. Wilson, a Union officer in the Civil War, contacted AOPA after watching the "Watermelon Sword" episode; they asked the Association to appraise a sword once used by their ancestor. Russ Pritchard III and George Juno gave it a value of close to $8,000 and persuaded the family to sell them the sword. The Wilson family had no intention of selling the sword prior to their meeting with the appraisers but, believing their descendant would have a place of honor for all time, the family sold it.

But instead of giving the Wilson sword to the museum, George Juno used it as collateral to secure a loan. Then he helped a family member sell the Wilson sword to a private collector for $20,000 -- two and a half times the value at which he and Pritchard originally appraised it.

The Meade Firearm

Major General George C. Meade commanded the victorious Union forces at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War and repelled the invasion of the North by the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Major General Meade received a presentation pistol. The firearm had been in the Meade family since the Major General's death.

In August 1997, Pritchard reached out to a Meade and represented himself as an expert in the field of Civil War artifacts. He offered to appraise the mahogany-cased, .44-caliber, Remington presentation pistol with engraved ivory grips, silver-plated frame, and gold-washed cylinder and hammer. Pritchard appraised the Meade firearm at between $180,000 and $200,000 and, once again, falsely stated that he was acquiring the firearm for the National Civil War museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for permanent display.

In October 1997, a private collector paid Pritchard $385,000 for the firearm; in return, Pritchard paid a Meade descendant just $184,000. Then, Pritchard faxed a letter to the mayor of Harrisburg, stating falsely that the Meade family was not interested in selling the firearm for inclusion in the city's National Civil War Museum.

The Patterson Collection

In 1996, an employee of AOPA contacted Mrs. Donald Patterson and expressed interest in acquiring a collection of militaria that she and her husband had accumulated over the years. Between August and December 1996 Pritchard, again falsely representing himself as an agent for the National Civil War Museum, appraised the Patterson collection and chose items -- including swords, rifles, pistols, uniforms, and other Civil War artifacts -- he said he was acquiring on behalf of the Museum.

Three days after Mrs. Patterson agreed to sell a portion of her collection to Pritchard to preserve and display at the Museum, Pritchard sold the majority of the items to a private Civil War dealer for $50,000. In May 1997, he sold the remainder of the collection to another private Civil War dealer for an additional $15,000.

The Hunt Uniform

In September 1996, a descendant of Lieutenant Colonel William R. Hunt, an officer in the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, asked Russ Pritchard, Jr., (himself a cousin of the Hunt descendant) to appraise a Hunt uniform. Russ Pritchard, Jr., delivered the uniform to his son, Russ Pritchard, III, who made repairs to the uniform. In December 1996, the Hunt uniform was sent to a textile expert to confirm its authenticity.

In January 1997, the Pritchards falsely advised Mr. Hunt that the uniform was not authentic and that they had given it away to a clothing collection agency. More than a year later, Pritchard III, sold the uniform to a private collector for $45,000. It eventually made its way back to a museum in Tennessee which bought it from a private dealer for $67,500. In May 2001, Russ Pritchard, Jr., was indicted for the theft of the uniform.

The Zouave Uniform

In early 1995, AOPA, Pritchard III, and Juno acquired a collection of Civil War-related artifacts from Mr. Ronald Weaver. A sergeant's Union Zouave uniform was included in the Weaver collection. Pritchard III and AOPA sold the collection, including the Union Zouave uniform, to the National Civil War Museum for $1.8 million. In March 1997, Pritchard III purchased what he thought was another authentic Zouave uniform. He later learned that the uniform was from a Belgium rather than Union military unit, and was of negligible value.

In March 1997, Pritchard III stole the Union Zouave uniform from the Harrisburg museum's inventory and replaced it with the Belgium Zouave uniform. In the fall of 1997, Pritchard III and Juno sold the stolen Union Zouave uniform to a private Civil War dealer for $20,000.

Indicted

In total, the three men -- Russell Pritchard, Jr., Russell Pritchard III, and George Juno -- were responsible for more than $1.2 million in historical memorabilia fraud. In early 2001, George Juno pleaded guilty to the theft of the Wilson sword. On December 21, 2001, Russell Pritchard III pleaded guilty to more than twenty counts including wire fraud, mail fraud, theft from a museum, and Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property. On January 18, 2002, Russell Pritchard, Jr., and a former museum curator at the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia with twenty years of experience, were found guilty of theft from a museum and aiding and abetting after the fact in the case involving the Hunt uniform.

On July 11, 2002, Russell Pritchard III was sentenced to one year in prison and was ordered to repay $830,000 for staging phony appraisals and defrauding Civil War militaria collectors. Pritchard III, 39, pleaded guilty to making false TV appraisals. He also admitted defrauding artifact owners by giving them low appraisals on items, then reselling them at much higher prices and keeping the profits for himself.

The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Division of the FBI which has been at the forefront of cultural property investigations for years. Cultural property crimes include the theft of nationally and internationally important historical items as well as antiques and art.

Some other cases that have been successfully investigated and prosecuted by the FBI are the recovery of more than 200 items stolen from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, valued at more that $2.5 million and considered to be the largest recovery of United States historical items in history; the recovery of an eagle feather war bonnet worn by the Apache Indian medicine man Geronimo; the recovery of a Civil War battle flag that was carried in battle by a black U.S. regiment and one of only five known to exist; and the recovery of a 2,000-year-old Peruvian artifact known as a "backflap". These cases represent the commitment of the FBI to cultural property crime investigations.

A wise man once said, "Nations flourish or are destroyed to the extent that their art, literature, and history are protected or destroyed."