History expert pleads guilty to stealing documents

BALTIMORE — A memorabilia collector and self-styled expert on presidential history pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to steal thousands of documents signed by leaders throughout U.S. history.

Barry Landau, whose knowledge of the White House earned him network morning show appearances, acknowledged in the plea to taking documents from the Maryland Historical Society and conspiring with his assistant to steal historical documents from several institutions with the intent of selling them.

Thousands of documents were seized from Landau's artifact-filled Manhattan apartment. Prosecutors say he schemed for years, if not decades, to steal valuable documents signed by historical figures from both sides of the Atlantic including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Marie Antoinette, and Charles Dickens. The oldest document listed in the plea was dated 1479.

The assistant pleaded guilty in October to the same charges: theft of major artwork and conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork. The pleas capped a case that was a wake-up call for archives and historical institutions nationwide to strengthen their security, prompting checks for visits by the pair and whether anything from historical collections was missing.

David S. Ferriero, archivist of the United States, said in a statement Tuesday evening that, "I am outraged that Mr. Landau who fashioned himself as a Presidential historian violated the public trust at many of our nation's greatest historical repositories."

Landau, 63, and Jason Savedoff, 24, were arrested last July in Baltimore after alert Maryland Historical Society staffers realized something was off about the pair who plied staffers with cookies and portrayed themselves as uncle and nephew.

"They were too schmooze-y to be regular people," David Angerhofer, a library archivist working that day. The collections the pair requested — coupled with Landau's attempts to block their view of Savedoff during repeated chats with staffers — made them suspicious and Angerhofer hid in the balcony for a better view.

After spotting Savedoff slip a document into a portfolio with personal papers, Angerhofer confronted Savedoff, saying he'd need to check the portfolio and that police were on their way. "I think they saw we were a small operation and they thought they had a golden opportunity to rob us blind," Angerhofer said.

The pair had 79 documents hidden in a computer bag when they were arrested, according to Landau's plea. About 60 of those belonged to the Maryland society, including a land grant signed by President Abraham Lincoln worth $300,000 and presidential inaugural ball invitations and programs worth $500,000.