Man pleads guilty to stealing historical documents

NEW YORK -- A New York man known as a collector and history expert has pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of documents at museums on the east coast.

It was a two-man operation that resulted in the theft of millions of dollars of valuables.

Barry Landau walked out of federal court staring straight ahead, refusing to answer reporters’ questions.

Inside, the 63-year-old entered a guilty plea to theft and conspiracy to steal historical documents from several museums, along the east coast including the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore where Landau and his co-defendant Jason Savedoff were caught in July of last year.

"They were very, very schmoozy. Like too schmoozy to be regular people," said David Angerhoffer, an archivist.

Archivist David Angerhoffer was working in the museum library where he said Landau and Savedoff brought employees cookies and drew suspicion when they repeatedly requested to view valuable collections.

"They had a little routine where Mr. Landau would come chat us up and kind of block our view of Mr. Savedoff," said Angerhoffer.

Eventually, Angerhofer snuck up to the balcony, spotted the men stealing, and called police.

"I think that they saw that we are a fairly small operation -- and thought that they had a golden opportunity to rob us blind," said Angerhoffer.

According to the indictment, police found approximately 60 stolen documents, worth millions, in the men’s rented museum locker.

The documents included presidential inauguration souvenirs dating back to 1841, and a land grant signed by President Lincoln in 1861.

Both men have admitted to stealing, or conspiring to steal, historical documents from museums in Maryland Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut.

So far, 4,000 of the 10,000 documents taken from landau's New York apartment have been identified as stolen.

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