Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
(File photo)
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) -- An artifacts dealer who cooperated in a federal investigation into looting of ancient Southwestern relics was paid more than $162,000 for his services.
Court records show a man described as "the source" entered into a contract for services with the FBI in December 2006. His last payment was last July.
The informant's cooperation with the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management helped secure criminal charges against 26 people in a multistate investigation of artifacts stolen from federal lands.
Defendant Robert Knowlton, of Mesa County, Colo., had sought details of the government's agreement with the informant. Knowlton has pleaded not guilty to charges that he sold three stolen artifacts to the informant in July 2008.
------
Information from: The Daily Sentinel
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
