New Haven, Connecticut: A renowned dealer in antique maps admitted in federal court on Thursday to stealing nearly 100 antique maps worth about $3 million (Dh11 million).
E. Forbes Smiley III, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of major artwork in connection with the theft of a map from Yale University.
He admitted taking a total of 97 maps over eight years from other institutions, including the New York and Boston public libraries, the Newberry Library in Chicago, the Harvard University library and the British Library in London.
The British Library discovered that two world maps from the 1500s the oldest stolen and a map of New England from 1624 were missing after Smiley's arrest.
"It's just incredible things of that value are so readily accessible in the libraries," said Kimberly Mertz, Connecticut's top FBI agent.
Smiley was released after posting $50,000 bond.
He later pleaded guilty to three larceny charges in state court in connection with the Yale map thefts.
Smiley faces nearly six years in prison on the federal charge and will have to pay restitution.
Smiley was arrested a year ago after a librarian at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library found a razor blade on the floor.
Police confronted Smiley, who had been reviewing rare books, and found seven maps worth nearly $900,000 in his briefcase and pockets, according to a police report.
