據(jù)《華盛頓郵報(bào)》《紐約郵報(bào)》等美媒當(dāng)?shù)貢r(shí)間4月5日報(bào)道，來自美國特拉華州的男子邁克爾·羅哈納（Michael Rohana）承認(rèn)，自己在費(fèi)城一家博物館掰斷并偷走了一尊兵馬俑的拇指。
但報(bào)道稱，由于羅哈納與檢方達(dá)成認(rèn)罪協(xié)議，檢方撤銷了刑期最高30年的“盜竊和藏匿博物館文物”指控。
取而代之的是，羅哈納將承認(rèn)“跨州販運(yùn)文物”罪名，這項(xiàng)罪名最高可判處兩年監(jiān)禁并處罰金2萬美元。
Michael Rohana, who was accused of damaging an ancient Chinese terracotta warrior, pleaded guilty to the charge.
As part of his plea bargain, federal prosecutors dropped the most serious charges against him — theft and concealment of an object of cultural heritage from a museum, which could have put Rohana behind bars for up to 30 years.
He will instead plead guilty to charges of interstate trafficking, which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence and $20,000 fine.
Michael Rohana nicked the digit from the 2,000-year-old terracotta statue when he snuck into the closed-off exhibit while attending an ugly sweater party at the Franklin Institute in December 2017. He also put his arm around the famous “Cavalryman” statue and snapped a selfie with the sculpture, according to charging documents.
The owner of the exhibits, Shaanxi Cultural Relics Exchange Center, also known as Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, issued a statement, noting that such a vicious incident had never occurred in the more than 260 exhibitions overseas in the past four decades. The center stated that it would further initiate an investigation focusing on civil liability according to law, and make economic claims in accordance with the exhibition agreement, demanding that the US party severely punish the perpetrators, CCTV reported.
A jury was ultimately unable to come to a consensus in April 2019, and a mistrial was declared. A scheduled retrial in February 2020 was postponed after the outbreak of the coronavirus and the Trump administration's restrictions.
On March 28, prosecutors said in court filings that Rohana had agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of trafficking in interstate commerce in archaeological resources. He is scheduled to appear in court on April 17.
