It's guys like this who are going to cause every inch of America to be covered by security cameras.

.

He started this in 2006...American Diggers wasn't on air then. His is excuse is "Santo's attorney described him in court papers as a recovering alcoholic afflicted with an anxiety disorder that prevents him from working or socializing with people."

I call B.S.! Get a real job and stop stealing!

Sorry Arkius...in nearly every national park...including battlefields...it is posted <very frequently> that the digging for artifacts is illegal and punishable by fine or time in jail.

Every battlefield is more that a "national treasure" it is a GRAVE YARD!!!!!. This guy knew what he was doing and did it any way.

Sorry about him being a drunk but we all have our problems.

... what about Native American grave sites ? i guess its ok if your not white?

"The defendant's journal is a tell-all of his misconduct, identifying with a high degree of specification where he engaged in metal detecting/relic hunting and when and what he recovered,"

So he did what an archaelogist would do in keeping records, but somehow he's 'terrible'? Perhaps we should just call him an 'amateur archaeologist'. If he kept daily records, it should be easy to cross check his 'inventory' against his written record to see if he actually sold anything.

How about some 'balance' in the story.

... what about Native American grave sites ? i guess its ok if your not white?

No it's not! And you bring up a good point, why are they not protected with the same dignity, respect, and laws?

I'm not well versed in the Native American Indian Nations and how it works on tribal lands. However, if the grave sites are on tribal lands then it needs to be the responsibility of that local tribe or nation. If not on tribal lands then the US Government needs to step in and protect it.

I'm fairly sure that a high majority of Americans (Native and not) will agree.

"... what about Native American grave sites ? i guess its ok if your not white?"

@ MISCHIEF9 - Native American grave sites (and all archeological sites) are also protected by law. Why r u trying to make this racial?

Oh, by the way,... it must be Obama and Romney's fault the battlefield was not property protected...

@Julie....there are protections for NA burials, regardless of whether they are on private or public lands.

@Arkius....there is no way you can live adjacent to a National Park and not know that "collecting" is illegal. It is posted EVERYWHERE....literally. Those signs also state the CFR that applies and the possible punishments.

This scumbag is destroying our history for his own selfish ends. I don't for a moment believe the crap excuses his lawyer came up with. The TV show, like Meteor Hunters and others, is encouraging this behavior and should be prosecuted for the damage, made to pay for restoration, and put off the air.

Oh no! We may never know what the civil war was about, or what happened! I was on the edge of my seat to find out how it ended!

What a heartbreaking loss for America. How are we to move forward now? Oh no oh no oh no!

Sorry, Concerned in Central Fl., but I did say “he PROBABLY had no idea that what he was doing was illegal”, not that he DEFINITELY knew what he was doing. OK, does that get me off the hook?

I’m not interested in playing CAN YOU TOP THIS with anyone, which is what, “Sorry Arkius” suggests. I’m not a child and I no longer play children’s games. If you can’t engage in adult discussion, please don’t bother me.

Seegray, you seem to have “misread” both the article and my comments.

The article states that Mr. Santos lives two miles from the park and in my comments I argue that because of Mr. Santos’ mental disabilities it is possible that even though the park may be well posted, he may have been incapable of complying with the signs.

Thomas Hamilton, did you see the amount of artifacts in the pictures? As a layman, with no back ground in archaeology, or history, or museum archives, or any academic interest what's-so-ever, how much of “our history” do you think this “scumbag”, as you call him, has destroyed?

And since the prosecuting attorney couldn’t prove that any of the artifacts that Mr. Santos recovered were sold, then neither you, nor anyone else, has any proof that his motives were money oriented, i.e., selfish. Are you still with me?

You can tilt against windmills if you’d like, but I will tell you exactly what I told vet1dee farther down this page:

“In most states, and I believe it's the same in Virginia, if an attorney makes those kinds of arguments in court, he has had his client certified by a psychiatric professional as actually being a "recovering alcoholic afflicted with an anxiety disorder", otherwise, the prosecuting attorney is going to challenge him, and make him look like a fool for presenting unsubstantiated evidence in a court of law. Do you see how that works?”

Now, if you truly believe that television programs have that big of an influence on folks, then I’m sure you’ll agree that movies must have an even greater impact on people, and if you want “Meteor Hunters and others” to be prosecuted for Mr. Santos’ crime, then I think it is only fair that the producers of Idiocracy be held accountable for the content of your post. When you figure that one out, write your congressman.

Did he know it was illegal? I didn't until I read the article. If I'd been walking in the park and found a bullet or button, I'd have though "cool!" and kept it. And it's not like legitimate researchers were lining up to catalog these things.

In this particular case at least, I'm inclined to be more forgiving. The guy seems to have quite a few problems aside from treasure hunting. I don't think a year in prison's going to do much for his anxiety disorder.

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

Since when has ignorance of the law been an acceptable legal defense? I have been to many parks and historical sites and seen signs posted about not taking anything from the grounds -- I would imagine this site is no different. Besides, given the severity of the sentence and the volume of his activities, I find it hard to believe he was unaware of what he was doing. No one picking up one bullet or button would face much more than a slap on the wrist. What this guy was up to was systematic and destructive.

As for "legitimate researchers," please see my comment below.

But it's not like he was walking in the park and happened to find a bullet or a button. He was actively digging for these things, not tripping over them. And it wasn't just *a* bullet or button, it was thousands of them. So at no time did it dawn on him that taking thousands of things from a National Battlefield might be a little sketchy? I doubt it.

I didn't know it definitely was illegal until reading the article either. But think it would occur to most people that actively digging, not in some obscure "maybe there was a Civil War battle here" field but in a site designated as a National Battlefield, would be legally questionable.

And maybe there's no one lining up to catalog these things because the National Parks system budget is so tight they can barely keep the lights on, let alone hire archeologists and historians to properly excavate, catalog, and care for these items. That doesn't mean they're not valued. Plus, people died and were often buried where they fell in many of the Civil War battles, so someone like you or me excavating there, with no historical context, is like digging in a graveyard. Let the dead rest in peace instead of robbing their graves. And it doesn't take a high social IQ to figure that out.

In truth, in any federal land, it is against the law to take artifacts or fossils, unless you have a special permit. Souvenir seekers, if caught usually get a warning...but it's rather easy to see who the "treasure hunters" are. If they have metal detectors, pick-axes, and the like, then chances are they are not there just to enjoy the scenery.

This is a very serious problem in a lot of areas...Native American burial grounds, fossil beds in federal lands, even protected heritage sites. And it's not just here in America...Europe, particularly Italy, has this problem. When you have a market in antiquities, you're going to have shady characters trying to fill that void.

I can't wait to hear you whine when you're busted for possession of a nickle bag of weed, two blocks from a school. What will you be sayin' then?

Arkius...you are an IDIOT! To accuse someone of possession of drugs near a school because you cannot come bach with any kind of intelligent rebuttal is stupidity. For you to condone what this guy did in stealing from and destroying these historical sites makes me wonder what you do to earn a few bucks. And by the way, since you're so concerned that this alchoholic thieving bum is being so misunderstood, I wonder what addictions you're harboring!

@arkius - evidently you are just saying outrageous things here to see if you can get a rise out of the other commenters - kudos, mission accomplished. Of course it is illegal as he!! to collect anything from a National Park, Battlefield, or Monument site. In most, it is illegal to collect dead firewood from the ground, or to pick up a fallen leaf as a souvenir. It is posted everywhere. It is written in the pamphlets they hand out at the gate.

I can't wait until you are arrested for stealing cobalt-60 from an x-ray machine in a VA hospital (makes as much sense as your comment about weed near a school, and has just as much connection to the article about ripping off historical treasure from a National Battlefield.)

Mailman, I'm sorry, did your wife run off with another man? Did someone steal your pick-up truck? Was your dog hit by a bus? I'm asking because you appear to be very angry about something, and you're just looking for someone to take it out on.

Please don't take it out on me. I will not put up with your crap for another minute. If your next post contains inflammatory comments directed at me, I will bring the community down on your head, and you will suffer the consequences. Is that clear? Now take your anger and shove it.

Marie, idiots are people who don’t read well, but feel the need to make irrational and ridiculous assumptions after having read. They only make themselves look foolish, and, well, look like idiots.

Let’s take a second look at what I said: “I can't wait to hear you whine when you're busted for possession of a nickle bag of weed, two blocks from a school. What will you be sayin' then?”

Do I accuse Mr. Sanders of drug possession near a school? No. Do I ask what he will sound like if he is ever arrested with drugs near a school? Yes. Do you see the difference Marie? Is this an intelligent enough rebuttal for your liking?

Next. You also need to go back and re-read my other comments. Nowhere do I condone Mr. Santos’ actions. I do make the point, however, that I feel that he was over punished for the crime, considering his mental and emotional disabilities.

Marie, you wrote: “For you to condone what this guy did in stealing from and destroying these historical sites makes me wonder what you do to earn a few bucks.” You’re not the most astute individual to ever post comments here. If you took the trouble to read my other posts before commenting, you might have noticed that I did mention that I am an archaeologist by profession.

As an archaeologist, my academic background is in anthropology, i.e., the study of human culture. In my life, I’ve learned that people have more value than anything else in the world, even an alcoholic bum. That’s why I value you, Marie, over a rat infested sewer, but not by much.

Finally, it is the policy of the community to ban people who call other posters names. I will be reporting you. Good bye Marie.

Let me see now, I have no cash, I need money for food, What can I do, choices, rob a liquor store or use my metal detector to look for bullets. I wonder if those guarding the sites that this is a battlefield and of course there will be bullets. This is not exactly like ripping off ancient sites.

Our National Parks barely have the funding to stay open, much less finance full archaeological efforts. I'm sure if you asked the curators of any of these wonderful national treasures they would tell you they'd LOVE to uncover all of the history, and do it the right way. Unfortunately, there's no money.

Relic hunting on private property is one thing.

Doing so on National Park property is another. For example, Gettysburg is as everyone knows a massive battlefield from the Civil war. I'm sure there are many "artifacts" buried there that have not been "discovered". However, can we truly expect the Park Service to go over every inch of the entire property with metal detectors and GPS every find they make?

I found several items from the Civil War on the property where I built a home in Spotsylvania VA. The owner of the property, which was divided and sold, lived in a house which had been a Confederate command post and Hospital. There were monuments on the property built by several northern states commemorating the Union troops lost in battle there. But the property was outside of the borders of the "Spotsylvania Battlefield" and whatever found was legitimate "personal property". However, I DID donate the items to the local Fredericksburg museum.

We archaeologists would love to see more active excavations and uncovering of the past. Are you going to pay for it? Excavations are expensive and time consuming. Just because no one can afford to excavate a site now does not mean that it should be fair game for plunder. Many times, the best we can do is identify a site and try to protect it so that when there are funds or resourcces available in the future, the archaeological record of the site remains intact for study. Treasure hunters destroy that record. Once it is destroyed, it is gone forever. This is not the only reason a site may be left unexcavated, however. Portions of archaeological sites are often intentionally left unexcavated, so there will still be something for future archaeologists to explore and possibly learn more about using the latest technologies. If you completely excavate a site now (unavoidably destroying it in the process), there will be nothing left when new advances in technology might be able to help archaeologists learn more. Also, archaeologists are not psychics. Particularly in areas of heavy archaeological involvement (like battlefields), smaller sites within the larger site might be missed or overlooked in surveys. That does not mean that they may not be found and identified during a future survey. But if they have been plundered in the meantime, there will be nothing left to study and learn from.

These sites must be protected -- even if reality means they cannot or should not be excavated at this time.

I think my point is off topic, but if an amateur could get to it with a metal detector, why didn't anyone legitimately try it beforehand (Assuming we didn't want to leave it there to begin with that is). I'm not challenging our park service or suggesting this become the next 50 billion dollar thing. Just saying maybe if we care so much about the stuff that's buried there, try to uncover it before the guy with a cheap metal detector can in say... 100 years, legitimately. Again, that's if it wasn't left there on purpose to begin with.

Johnny N,

The only nazi that I can see here is the man who proclaimed "Listen to all the archaeologist nazis out there!". This is not a hobby. It is a calling and a profession. First to understand what natural processes, over a period of time, could be expected to do to artifacts and remains, and then to recognize those artifacts and remains, to extract or to leave them, to study them, and to conserve and to preserve them for others. You sound angry that we don't just left plow up such sites to havest miniballs to sell on Ebay for a couple of dollars and shipping. But understand this: the bullets, buckles and buttons belong to the American people. Bought and paid for by the American people treasure and blood. You just want to justify yourself as a thief, by belittling others.

What could the distribution of bullets on the battlefield tell us? That the Order of Battle, the report written by commanders after the action, was correct, or omitted portions, or was just plain wrong. The old saying was that "History is written by the winners." may no longer be true. We can now look back and know how battles were fought, and who was forthright, but also who fudged the facts. That may not be important to you, but it probably is to a significant number of Americans.

As an archaeologist I can tell you first hand that getting individuals or corporations to financially back an excavation is like pulling teeth, so not every park can afford a proper excavation.

Not every archaeologist's application to excavate is approved for some reason or another. Finally, all that's left for some of these parks is to post signs stating that No relic hunting or No metal detectors are allowed in the Park, but if the Park Service doesn't have enough personal to adequately patrol the park then people are going to poach relics with impunity.

@arkius - we call bs on you. In the strings above, you were justifying the thief, and now you are an archaeologist? Riiiiight!!!!!!!

signed - a nuclear physicist (also Pope in my spare time)

Mailman, who is we? Do you have a mouse in your pocket? If you read my comments carefully, if that's at all possible, you might understand that I was concerned for a mentally ill human being.

As an archaeologist I am concerned for the artifacts, of course, but I am a human first, and a professional second. Apparently, that is a concept that is difficult for an individual with a narrow mind and a poor education to grasp.

How can less than two rangers be everywhere 24 hours a day seven days a week? You Baggers whine about poor government services when you have forced so many cuts that there just aren't enough staff. So you then demand more cuts and then complain ever more loudly about the decline in services. Baggers are insane!

We can take solace in the fact that this guy is going to spend the rest of his life being haunted by civil war ghosts! If you've ever watched Scooby-doo, you know that they are the scariest kind.

Yea,Yea,Da gubment can't do nuttin nohow,heard that whiney crap before.You are cool and the archaeologist are all dumb.I know you,everybody knows you,every neighborhood,office,social club,etc,has one.

Awwww, leave the lady alone, she's passionate about this. You wouldn't want anybody laughing at your passion would you?

What's s bagger?

Boohoo......did you even read the article? Shes an archaeologist, not a Ranger or park Security. Have you ever been there? No....I'm sure you haven't ....parks are not blanketed with security cameras over every square inch......

Shut your ignorant mouth and get the facts before you make even more of an ass of yourself than you already have.

If you want to reduce it to crass materialism, fine. "History" has fed many families of archaeologists and historians. By plundering sites (or advocating allowing others to do so), you are robbing the future earning power of both archaeologists (nothing left to excavate) and historians (no knowledge gained to write about or teach). And that's not even getting into secondary history-related industries like tourism and publication. Tourism can be a major economic force in areas rich in history, which then has the potential to bring in funds for area hotels, restaurants and gift shops. Publishing houses make the profit (paid in salaries to writers, editors, printers, etc) off of manuscripts about historical sites and the histories revealed through archaeological research. Without sites left un-plundered to excavate and write about, there will be nothing (or at least a lot less) for these publishing houses to publish. I could go on with the ramifications (loss of customers for suppliers of printing materials, out of work computer programmers who transform books into e-books, etc), but I will stop because if you have not gotten the point already, you never will. History may have never fed your family, but I absolutely guarantee that it has fed the families of many other people. Your selfish disregard for history and the way some other people make their livelihoods threatens to actually take food off of their tables. Well done.

Daniel, history feeds your family every day. Figure it out.

@Daniel - the items in your tool shed never fed my family, so I guess I can steal them tonight and sell them for pennies on the dollar. The public lands and everything on them belong to all the citizens of the United States, and taking the property of others is wrong. How sad that you have never learned this.

Most of the storage managers do look into the contents before they're auctioned off. Such B.S., it's made for TV, such shows.

"Placing the items" is not the only issue. Sure, it helps a little that he kept some records -- but it seems highly unlikely that he recorded all of the data that an archaeologist could use. Did he record the soil Munsell number? Did he record soil texture? Did he accurately record depth (can only be done by transit or reference to a known datum point)? Did he note any protruding tree roots that may have disturbed the site? Did he systematically excavate in order to uncover related data from the same strata and allow comparison between finds? Did he intend to publish an analysis of the site so that others could learn from his work (perhaps the most important jobs of a professional archaeologist)? There is so much more to proper excavation than the average lay person knows. I do not mean that in a nasty or spiteful way -- there is no reason for you to know, as it is not your job. But that is exactly why archaeology should be left to the professionals -- just as building buildings should be left to professional architects, or surgery conducted by a professional surgeon.

I am not saying what he did was right. But left to the professionals, 99% of what is found will be stuck away in a museum basement for no one to see or study except those with the proper credentials.

I know it is that way with vertebrate fossils, especially dinosaurs and mammals. And it is exceedingly rare to find good invertebrate fossil sites as laws have been passed to limit access.

They were freaking musket balls, not the crown jewels !!! These Archaeologist really think they have the right to dig and preserve history and make a buck doing it ? What a joke , and not that important in the real world !!

Why is it illegal to MD on private property (rural areas)? Just get permission from the owner.

It's illegal because it's private property. If you contact the owner of the land on which you want to explore you might get permission.

His lawyer says mental disease is a factor,and we all know they never bend the truth

John, have you recently come to America? Attorneys will do what ever they can on behalf of their client.

Hopefully, if you ever find your ass in a pickle and you need a good attorney, he or she will be willing to do the same for you.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, John.

he is dust by now

Or maybe someone lost a shirt since the 1860's?????

For SpyderGirl

May the Lord bless you for your tender thoughts young lady.

May he shine the suns warmth on you as you walk on a cold day.

May he guide you to do the right thing when you waver.

And may he hold you in his arms so tightly as he walks you down heavens hall.

It was a dramatic and unreasonable stretch for the interviewee to infer that the finding of 5 buttons in one location could likely constitute a burial site. While theoretically that could be true, the odds are far against that being the case. It was an irresponsible thing to say and was designed only to inflame passions and bolster the NPS argument (which is with merit on its own).

If the person who made this statement knew anything about Civil War uniforms, they would know that they were not made with 5 buttons. The typical federal uniform coat was one of three types - Sack Coat = 4 buttons, Frock Coat = 9 buttons, Shell jacket = 9 buttons.

Most likely this was a discarded damaged Frock coat or Shell jacket, thrown away by a soldier sometime during the siege in 1864-65. Federal troops especially were regularly supplied with replacement uniform goods and their old stuff either turned in for issue to contrabands or simply just thrown away. Finds of multiple buttons in campsites and areas where troops stayed for extended periods are not uncommon discoveries and almost never indicate a burial, no matter what the NPS says.

Petersburg was a siege that took place over a period of months. Both armies spent most of the period camped and rather inactive. There were periods of intense fighting but these were the exception rather than the rule. It was slow tedious trench warfare.

I see a new reality show. Some possible titles " Reenactors Gone Wild ", " Hillbilly Grave Robbing " or " NCIS Way to Late ". With parole he won't have to do a year. It isn't like they cut off his mini balls ! The defendent's claim that he didn't know it was illegal, just doesn't hold water. In other words Santo's clause is going to drown.

Is it really a treasure if its never unearthed? I think not.

LOL..... Jim Ledden, you are a light in a sea of darkness.

deweydan,

Collection from private property in many areas and from heritage sources (in the family since great-great-uncle Abel served) is legitimate. Ironically, I have seen many warnings on many of the reality shows, that as many as 90% of Civil War artifacts are fakes. Some were produced for the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) convention encampments from 1900 to the 1920's. Some were produced for the current crop of reenactors or movie-making. And others are simply frauds. Lead and brass can be chemically weathered, as can steel and iron. Miniball molds aren't hard to duplicate. Buyer beware.

Kevin Bitz,

Aside the American public's ownership of the land and the artifacts, there is another principle long at work in cemetaries and battlefields -- hallowed ground. Hallowed ground is land set aside by society in recognition of the sacrifices made there, or honoring those buried there. Most states even have regulations regarding the relocation of private or public cemetaries. But I cannot imagine how you could "relocate" a battlefield.

Even certain sentiment is given to the land around these sites. Witness the Gettysburg Walmart SuperCenter development which was ultimately moved 9 miles to avoid the Union rear encampment area, which was not part of the battlefield proper, but where many died of wounds in field hospitals.

Yes they are that brain dead and unethicle

How many times did we as Americans desecrate Native American battlefields, burial grounds and never a peek from all you do-gooders now?

The Native Americans have Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). They can come in and take your whole museum if they want to.

Heartbreaking is seeing an archaeological sight destroyed and all the information it could have yielded lost forever. Sad is how ignorant you are about the loss of our nations history to ...well....other people as ignorant as you.

Heartbreaking is seeing the place where your great-great grandfather fought and died being pillaged by the ignorant. Your remark is typical of a generation that thinks only the present era has merit. Nothing learned from the past and no consideration for the future.

I never did understand the laws it's against the law in GA to pick up an arrowhead or Indian artifact off the ground put you can keep all you find in the rivers & they're plenty in there. I know people that have hundreds of points, spear points, pipes, I know a veterinarian that has found mastadon teeth bigger than my two fists.

They get to keep everything & it's legal because it was in the river. Yet it's against the law to pull the old logs out of the river you have to have a $1000 permit.

Please explain for the readers what "so called" means. For example: a so called archaeologist.

A person is either an archaeologist or they're not. They either have credentials or they don't. They apply for a permit to excavate or investigate and they must produce their credentials. There is no "so called" involved what-so-ever.

The only "so called" that is ever used, is by an inept commenter who needs to give his or her nonsense the appearance of authority.

Get over yourself.

Jimmy, you are a ridiculous person, with absolutely no sense of proportion. Did you not read the article? The man is mentely ill. Half the time he didn't even know what he was doing, he only knew he was out doors and enjoying himself.

I hope some day that you are over sentenced for a small crime, then you'll know what injustice feels like.

to Arkius...

what are you talking about? The man was mentally ill only when it suit him..If he was mental and did not know what he was doing, 1) he will not have written and catalogued everything he found. 2) you are the ridiculous one for wishing bad things on others for not agreeing with you. That man got away for trully getting more punishment. Piliging battlefields is like piliging cemetaries .PERIOD

Vet1dee, it seems that you understand things only when it suits you.

In the United States, alcoholism is recognized as a mental illness. Did you even read the article carefully before you wrote your diatribe? If you did, then did you reason with the information at all?

The article clearly explains that Mr. Santos' attorney had argued his clients condition in court: "Mr. Santos' attorney described him in court papers as a recovering alcoholic afflicted with an anxiety disorder".

In most states, and I believe it's the same in Virginia, if an attorney makes those kinds of arguments in court, he has had his client certified by a psychiatric professional as actually being a "recovering alcoholic afflicted with an anxiety disorder", otherwise, the prosecuting attorney is going to challenge him, and make him look like a fool for presenting unsubstantiated evidence in a court of law. Do you see how that works?

Now, I don't mean to be picky, but you don't write very well. You don't use capital letters, and you don't punctuate. You are strongly opinionated and you don't seem to be open to discussion. So please, leave me alone.

You like to see your words in print, don't you? I bet you like the sound of your own voice as well.....sadly, you don't know what you are talking about and should just shutup.

Vinny, don't lose heart my friend. This is only one recovering alcoholic, stricken with anxiety, struggling to make it through life that made a mistake.

There are thousands of National Parks left with lots of relics just waiting to be recovered, that will never be recovered because the government doesn't have the money or the interest, and America doesn't have the human resources to recover even one ten thousandth of the artifacts still out there.

No we do not need more laws. Knee jerk reactions are reducing everyone's freedom. There are more then enough laws on the books to run a reasonable society.

Probably picked him up on a deercam. Thats a new kick they've recently gotten into so I've been told. Then they just watch for that person and alert staff when they stroll in. He probably stayed in the woods because anyone seeing him would immediately alert the ranger station. And during summer months there's usually nothing but a wall of green seen from any road. Plus most would have to be crazy to be out in 90+ degree temps during the summer so most workers or rangers never go into the woods due to heat,snakes and ticks and skeeters.