Georgia Treasure Hunter Faces Prison Time

[mr_larry]

Be careful where you dig!
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/24535065/detail.html?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss

 

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[ivan salis]

GEORGIA DOES NOT "PLAY" WHEN IT COMES TO CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD AREAS -- THEY WILL HANG YOU BY YER THUMBS -- georgia is tough metal detecting wize hunting -- private land with permission * is your best bet.

 

[Tnmountains]

He had to be crazy to hunt in Chickamauga Hallow ground. To many other places he could have gone legally with permission. All for three bullets.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A northern Georgia man has entered a federal plea deal over relic hunting on a national battlefield.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that 53-year-old Eric George Blaasch of Adairsville, Ga., entered a guilty plea on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga.
The agreement allowed Blaasch to avoid incarceration, but he must perform 94 days of community service during an 18-month probation period.
He pleaded guilty to violating the Archaeological Resources Protection Act.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary C. Roemer said a ranger at the Chattanooga and Chickamauga National Battlefield saw Blaasch walking out of a woods, covered in mud.
The ranger found Blaasch had three Minie balls - bullets used in muzzleloading rifles during the Civil War.

 

[Bradley137]

Better luck next time dude. Should've picked another spot.

 

[21stTNCav]

Common here, don't hunt in a national Battlefield.

 

[treasurehound]

You have got to be kidding me. I can't believe that someone would stoop that low to hunt a national park that is hallow ground to our ancestors. It is stories like this that give our hobby a bad name. I hope that new people to the hobby know that there are laws in some areas that prohibit metal detecting.

 

[Dinker]

This guy had to be stuck on stupid. He is the kind who gives all treasure hunters a bad name.

 

[Tnmountains]

Around this area everything is a battlefield/park. I can go out in my yard and dig bullets and have dug much near my front door. Less than a half mile away is National parks as they should be.
Have a good hunt and have permission every where you hunt keeps you safe.
HH
TnMtns

 

[jeff of pa]

Authorities say he was covered in mud and carrying tools and a flashlight when he was spotted by park rangers in Feb. 2005 in the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park in northwest Georgia.

He initially said he had gotten lost

Is it possible he was Night Hawking ?
or planning on it ?

Also

he was spotted by park rangers in Feb. 2005

but he could face up to two years in prison and 94 days public service when he's sentenced on Oct. 8

?

what took so long ?

 

[knack4iron]

It may be appalling to some, but its not a violent act. It happened 5 years ago and its just got to court.Not alot of priority there. He'll pay a beefy fine,lose his gear and car used to get there and more than likely a couple of hundred hours community time and banned from any Federal Park and get stuck with any lawyer fees he incurred.

see this article.
http://www.authentic-campaigner.com...amage-Fortifications-at-Vicksburg-NMP&p=58847

 

[ivan salis]

hes a dirtbag idiot no doubt --he will lose cash ( due to court cost , lawyer fees, fines ect) and any goods used in the crime -- ( detector and possibly the car ) --and have to do about 3 months of community service time (free state labor) -- note*** giving him "sitting" in jail time cost the govt money --(since he can not work and produce no "taxes" in jail -- they must be fed and clothed and medically cared for and we gotta pay folks to watch over them all which cost tax money )

please note that by keeping him out of jail , hes got to pay all the "cost" as well as taking care of himself -- that way this is a money maker / job producer for the govt ( he pays for the judges and legal system -the parole officer ect --thus these govt jobs are paid out of the crooks pockets (if he does not pay --back to jail --hes gotta pay the "fees" to stay out) ***

the govt really in most cases does not want to lock up and feed and take care of non volient offenders *** they would much rather just take your assets and fine you all the cost of doing bussiness -- and put you on parole -where you pay fees to the system to be "free" to go out and work making tax money for the system.

its all about the $$$$$ in most cases - -- capital punishment --- got enough capital you do not get any punishment --- just pay up / off enough $$$

 

[sniffer]

the guy is getting what he deserved. he knew where he was and he knew it was illegal, otherwise, why would he lie about what he was doing there.
It's people like that the give MD'ing a bad name

 

[Dan_McKeown]

Damn, I found a bullet at Gettysburg and kept it. Never realized it was such a big deal.

 

[sniffer]

Dan, this guy was out at night, with lights and digging tools, he knew what he was doing was illegal. after all, he had been caught before.
Soooooooooo, what kind of bullet DID you find? HMMMMMM!

 

[XL-PRO PRO]

Unfortunitely our government picks and choses which laws it choses to enforce.I owned a convenience store for years and when the local post office was broken into the chief of police and a federal agent came around with a list of stolen money orders to be "on the look out for".I was given instructions to cash these mo's if presented and to identify the person passing them.I cashed a total of six of these ($300 total) and was reimbursed by the government and id'd the culprit.About a year later I asked the chief about the outcome of this case and his reply was "it just wasn't worth fooling with".Recently I had a friend who was captured with four arrowheads he'd picked up on a drained lake,and yep, he was arrested,taken to court and fined.DBULL

 

[ZINCLID]

I'll say this about the incident. This is how a few bad apples can ruin the whole barrel! All it does is chalk up one more sour incident against "us" the detectorists. Do I believe we ought to have the right to recover minie balls and other stuff from a battlefield--well, heck yeah, but the laws and the rules have been set before us by the authorities and in almost no case has a detectorist won any judgment when going up against these non-detecting rule/law makers. He knew that he wasn't legally supposed to be there and I for one think it was totally his own stupid fault!

 

[knack4iron]

You also have to be very skeptical of the NPS too.I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. They are continually trying to force land owners to sell. Last I heard they were trying to absorb Champion Hill Ms.,Raymond MS, Port Gibson MSbattlefields.And they can't take care of what they have now . All areas where anything of a civil war battle took place. Even though relic hunters from the 60's were crawling over them. I even hunted in these places in the 80's. If the NPS had their way, every spot you dig would be theirs and off limits.
I was given permission by numerous land owners on the outskirts of the NPS in Vicksburg. But there was one ranger that would come outside the park and tell landowners NOT to let us hunt because they would say we'd sneak into the park. Even though we didn't.Who wants to hunt looking over their shoulder all the time? These were legitimate spots. Alot of those rangers have great interest in relics themselves. The storage facility in the Vicksburg Museum is chucked full of stuff never to be seen again.Some collected stuff never make it there, know what I mean. Theres alot of corruption in places you wouldn't think there is.

Now this guy maybe an idiot.but he'll pay for it. Probably out in the open field with a light strapped to his head. But the prisons are too full now with rapists and murderers and people who commit violent acts.And even some of those get off lite sometimes.

And the 1 bullet you found, yep, in their book your scum, its illegal to remove "anything". How do I know? Cause I had 2 friends who walked down to a creek in NPS and picked up some minnies that washed out. They told them they couldnt even "eyeball" and keep it. Its illegal. It is what it is.

I knew a guy that was the head archaeologist for the state for many years. He was fired because everytime someone donated an item to the state of MS.,he'd write a receipt out of his own book. Then the item went into his collection without any knowledge of it being donated. He got caught over a sword that was donated but never showed up on any display. This guy had over 100 confederate and union muskets in his home, awesome stuff.

So this kind of stuff didn't just start. Its been going on since the 70's. As for giving MD a blackeye. Its always going to be looked down upon no matter what happens by the NPS. And your not going to change their minds or attitude toward relic hunting. If you own a md then your their enemy.Doesn't matter if your squeeky clean and detect by all laws with permission.Doesn't matter how much you brown nose or suckup. Got a md?Your the bad guy....

 

[21stTNCav]

I along with my detecting club help out the NPS in South Texas and have a great time doing it. This being said you CANNOT divluge information of where you found relics on private property. Texas antiquity law of 1969 makes it clear that anything under the ground over 100 yrs old belongs to the state. The ranger would mess you over in a heart beat if you told him or her you found relics even if they were on private property.

This being said what moron goes on a Major battle site and thinks that they will not be caught at least eventually? This guy was about as bright as a 2 watt light bulb.

 

[txkickergirl]

One rotten egg in the basket can ruin it all. Arch's, at one time were the worst looters in our history. Sorry but it is true, they rampaged thousands of sites for the sake of treasure, with little thought to preserve the future. Early Arch's like Belzoni, were tomb robbers in Egypt, he would dig into the tombs grab the gold and treasure and give little thought to the study of history. He was even known to sit on the mummies to rest and was quoted to say that under his weight many crushed like a bandbox. Thousands of sites were destroyed due to these peoples early attempts at uncovering history. Soon a systematic approach was designed and we all know how it developed from there. There are still a few of those Arch's out there that are considered tomb raiders. So it needs to be known that in every profession you have your good and your bad. Education is the key, educate the public, and I truly wish we would stop referring to ourselves as treasure hunters, the term in the general public brings to mind Indiana Jones and of course people who do not know what we do and the histroy we preserve will think we are looters. Second, everytime one of these yahoo's get busted, someone in the metal detecting world needs to get a hold of the media in the area, and make a statement that we do not condone this behavior. Just because the guy used a metal detector does not make them a detectorist, and make the public aware of our code of ethics. The NRA does it all the time, that you can't blame the majority responsible gun owners when a wack job goes nuts. Not everyone who owns a deer rifle is a hunter, there are some crazies out there. .

 

[21stTNCav]

I likea dat, not every bozo with a rifle is a deer hunter!!