04/24/2025
LOOTING DESTROYS HISTORY
Earlier this month, Roy Everett Jordan, Jr., 57, of Georgetown, Louisiana, was found guilty by a federal jury in Alexandria for the unauthorized removal of archaeological resources on the Kisatchie National Forest and illegal possession of a firearm. United States District Judge Dee D. Drell presided over the trial. It took just 30 minutes for the jury to find Jordan guilty of the crimes. The Archaeological Resources Protection Act prohibits any unauthorized disturbance to sites located on federal lands and over 100 years in age. The purpose of the law is to safeguard our nation’s heritage for the present and future benefit of the American people. Since digging or artifact hunting is legal on private lands, the preservation of archaeological resources on public lands is especially important for safeguarding the nation’s heritage. In general, archaeological excavations are only permitted for Secretary of the Interior qualified archaeologists in consultation with State and Tribal partners.
In 2022, USDA Forest Service law enforcement agents discovered unauthorized digging at four Native American archaeological sites in Kisatchie National Forest in Grant Parish, Louisiana. The digging had been done in places where stone tools, ancient pottery, and other artifacts were known to be present. Through their investigation, agents obtained photo evidence of Jordan being in the area where the digging was taking place. Just a few hours after photo evidence was taken of him conducting unauthorized digging, Jordan made a post on social media about a find that he had made that day in that location and the piece of pottery he found.
Testimony by Kisatchie National Forest’s archaeologist Dr. Matthew Helmer at trial established that the value of the restoration and repair of the disturbed archaeological sites will be greater than $500, a felony offense. Jordan faces a sentence of not more than 2 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both, on the conviction for removal of archaeological resources, as well as restitution for the damage caused at the archeological sites. He also faces a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000, for the fi****ms conviction. This is one of the first felony Archaeological Resources Protection Act convictions in the history of Louisiana.
“Justice was served,” commented Kisatchie National Forest’s Supervisor, Lisa W. Lewis. “Looting is a terrible problem on federal lands that not only destroys the history that belongs to the people, but it robs us of what happened at these sites. When looters steal artifacts, it is like ripping pages out of a history book, leaving big gaps in our knowledge of what was here in the past. People do not realize the impact and consequences that result when they take items from archaeological sites on public lands.”
The case was investigated by the USDA Forest Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisiana State Police and Grant Parish Sheriff's Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys William C. Gaskins and Mike Shannon.
If you have information on illegal removal of artifacts from the Kisatchie National Forest, please contact your local police or sheriff’s office or call the Kisatchie National Forest at (318)473-7160.
Link to Department of Justice press release:
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