Feds gather vast collection of artifacts dealer

A Colorado antiquities dealer is surrendering a vast personal collection of ancient artifacts in another break in the federal investigation of looting and grave-robbing in the Four Corners region.

More than 20 government agents, archaeologists and curators descended early Wednesday on a home in Durango, Colo., to haul away a lifetime collection from 74-year-old Carl "Vern" Crites and his wife.

The Bureau of Land Management said the couple was voluntarily turning over its entire collection, which one agent described as staggering. Two moving vans were at the house. Court papers say the items include prayer sticks, ivory beads and a ceremonial war club.

Crites and his wife, Marie, are under indictment for trafficking, theft and grave desecration.

"It's enormously traumatic for them," said Wally Bugden, a Salt Lake lawyer representing Vern Crites. "He's collected artifacts for 50-plus years, as have many people in the Four Corners area. Whether they were legally obtained or not is obviously the issue."

According to court papers, some of the artifacts were pilfered from federal lands in Utah. But BLM spokesman Steven Hall said it would take examinations by archaeologists to determine the origin of each artifact. Some are believed by investigators to be thousands of years old.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for Utah, Brett Tolman, said the surrender was not being made in tandem with a plea deal.

"We can't confirm any plea deal until one is executed, and right now there isn't one," said spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch. "We expect a judge to set a trial in this case just like all of the other cases."

The surrender, together with a similar hand-over earlier this summer by Jeanne Redd of Blanding, recovers some of the biggest collections at the center of a sting operation, which resulted in felony charges against 25 people. Two of them committed suicide, while the rest have pleaded not guilty.

The investigation broke open in June with early-morning raids on a dozen rural Utah homes. Other defendants were arrested or surrendered in Colorado and New Mexico. Authorities have already seized truckloads of artifacts and are aggressively pursuing leads.

Vern and Marie Crites left their house Wednesday with the arrival of federal agents, Hall said. In a brief interview last week, Marie Crites told The Associated Press she had no comment — except to complain that during her arrest in June, she was thrown into jail in handcuffs and denied a bathroom visit.