It is a real shame this type of thing happens. This guy in a real dirt bag.


http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/n ... 7964.shtml


FARMINGTON -- The former president of the Phillips Historical Society pleaded guilty Friday to theft in Franklin County Superior Court for stealing valuable items from the group's Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad collection.

Kenneth Teele, 63, who now lives in Gray, quietly told Justice Joseph Jabar he was guilty of the charges. Teele had been indicted for felony theft but in a negotiated plea, the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to a $2,000 fine and ordered to pay restitution.

Franklin County Assistant District Attorney James Andrews said the case involved documents stolen from the Historical Society and subsequently auctioned off at Cyr Auction House in Gray last March.

Teele's items listed in the company catalog, which included the association's railroad stock book valued at $10,000 and $12,000 of Teele's own item, brought in a total of $31,612.

The proceeds of the sale were seized but were authorized to be released Friday. Andrews said $21,000 will be turned over to historical group as restitution and the rest will reimburse L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean Folkers, who purchased the stock book.

The stock book included the first stock certificate issued in 1879 for the narrow gauge railroad.

Also sold from the society's collection were four postcards of early Phillips, one dated 1811, which sold for $750.

Three members of the historical society attended the plea hearing Friday and outside the courtroom, said they were satisfied with the agreement.

"I am glad it is all over This has been going on for more than a year and now it is time to move on," said Treasurer Jan Norton. "I'd like to use that money to fix up the exterior of the building. I can see new paint."

The organization's board of directors had been concerned before the theft about a number of missing items and planned to create a permanent, electronic catalog of their large collection of railroad and town memorabilia.

Before they could get to it, however, they were tipped off that some of their possessions were in the Cyr catalog in advance of a March 2004 railroad memorabilia auction. Attempts to get the sale stopped were unsuccessful because the group had no documentation.

The historical group now has a heightened awareness of security, said board member Chris Hardy. One change is that no one is allowed to remove anything from the building.

"That wouldn't have stopped Ken, though, since he had a key," Vice President Denny Atkinson said.

Cataloging the collection of railroad and town memorabilia is now under way, he said. There had been an inventory but the list had disappeared, which made it difficult for the group to prove that all the items sold belonged to them. It was Teele's job as president to maintain the inventory books.

Atkinson, at the time, said the items are part of the town's history.

"This should be a wake-up call to all historical societies to keep an eye on their things," he said.

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen@centralmaine.com