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NEW YORK, Jun 23, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A map dealer has admitted to a federal judge in New York he stole millions of dollars worth of antique maps from libraries.
Edward Forbes Smiley III will be sentenced next September for taking 97 maps from libraries at Harvard and Yale universities as well as the New York Public Library, Chicago's Newberry Library and the British Library.
The thefts took place over a period of 7 1/2 years, the New York Times reported.
The plea by Smiley comes roughly one year after he was caught with five rare maps in his briefcase and tweed jacket after leaving Yale University's rare book library. A video surveillance system showed him removing a map valued at $150,000 from a book.
Smiley admitted in plea agreements with prosecutors to having stolen 97 maps from seven institutions. The oldest was a 1524 map of the New World by Hernan Cortes belonging to the Houghton Library at Harvard.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
