sleepdiver
Registered
The following is posted for your information. I am going to see what became (or will become) of the artifacts. Sounds like the Sandusky stuff is beyond the reach of the law. This may account for the location of the long lost name board from the Sandusky shown in an anonymous illustration in Chuck Feltner's book (someone mailed it to him without explanation):
Cheboygan man is guilty of taking items from protected waters
CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (AP) - A judge ordered a 53-year-old man to return artifacts he stole from shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, authorities said Tuesday.
Robert Allen Lemmer of Cheboygan pleaded guilty in 89th District Court to stealing the beam from the Straits Underwater Preserve shipwreck of the William H. Barnum, in the Straits of Mackinac, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said.
Judge Harold Johnson ordered Lemmer to pay $4,650 in court costs, fines and restitution.
An investigation by conservation officers revealed that Lemmer and a friend in 2001 used scuba gear and an air bag system to bring the Barnum's beam to the surface.
They then towed it to Lemmer's Cheboygan County lakefront home, where it was intended for use as a fireplace mantel, the DNR said.
A search at Lemmer's home also uncovered artifacts from the Straits Area Underwater Preserve shipwreck of the Sandusky.
These artifacts were taken in the 1980s, and the statute of limitations prevented charges for those thefts.
Michigan law prohibits the recovery, alteration, or destruction of shipwrecks or items related to shipwrecks in Michigan's Great Lakes waters, including shipwrecks in the state's Underwater Preserves.
Cheboygan man is guilty of taking items from protected waters
CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (AP) - A judge ordered a 53-year-old man to return artifacts he stole from shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, authorities said Tuesday.
Robert Allen Lemmer of Cheboygan pleaded guilty in 89th District Court to stealing the beam from the Straits Underwater Preserve shipwreck of the William H. Barnum, in the Straits of Mackinac, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said.
Judge Harold Johnson ordered Lemmer to pay $4,650 in court costs, fines and restitution.
An investigation by conservation officers revealed that Lemmer and a friend in 2001 used scuba gear and an air bag system to bring the Barnum's beam to the surface.
They then towed it to Lemmer's Cheboygan County lakefront home, where it was intended for use as a fireplace mantel, the DNR said.
A search at Lemmer's home also uncovered artifacts from the Straits Area Underwater Preserve shipwreck of the Sandusky.
These artifacts were taken in the 1980s, and the statute of limitations prevented charges for those thefts.
Michigan law prohibits the recovery, alteration, or destruction of shipwrecks or items related to shipwrecks in Michigan's Great Lakes waters, including shipwrecks in the state's Underwater Preserves.
