French historian jailed for stealing dog tags from US archives
US military members have long worn dog tags to identify them in the event of death or injury. Photo: US Air Force
A French historian who was a recognised expert on the D-Day invasion was sentenced to 364 days in prison for stealing dog tags and numerous other relics of US servicemen whose planes crashed during World War II.
Antonin DeHays, whose research focused on events at the French beach at Normandy where President Dwight Eisenhower’s troops launched the D-Day invasion, pilfered nearly 300 dog tags and other war relics during visits to a public research room of the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.
The systematic thefts took place during visits to the research room from 2012 to 2017. The published historian used his researcher identification card to access the artefacts.
In a statement provided to the court, Archivist of the United States David S Ferreiro said the National Archives has spent tens of thousands of dollars reviewing the materials DeHays stole and seeking to recover items from third-party purchasers. He said the full loss from the archives may never be known.
DeHays peddled the majority of the stolen items on eBay and elsewhere to unwitting buyers. He made thousands of dollars selling many of the 291 dog tags and 134 records, including personal letters, photographs and small pieces of US aircraft downed during the war.
He didn’t sell everything. Officials say he kept some items at his home in College Park, which were seized during a raid, and even donated the stolen dog tags of a downed Tuskegee airman to a military aviation museum in Virginia in exchange for the chance to climb inside a single-seat fighter airplane from World War II.
At his Monday sentencing at US District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, DeHays told the court that he sold the stolen items in part to acquire a collection for his dream museum.
Following his prison stint, DeHays is due to spend three years on probation, including eight months in home confinement.