Helo pilot accused of selling stolen relics

[unhappycamper]

Helo pilot accused of selling stolen relics
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 6, 2008 21:51:11 EST

NEW YORK — A Army helicopter pilot has been arrested on charges of selling stolen Egyptian antiquities dating to 3000 B.C., federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Edward George Johnson, a chief warrant officer from Fayetteville, N.C., was arrested Tuesday in Alabama on charges of transportation of stolen property and wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said.

His lawyer, Christine Freeman, did not immediately return a telephone message for comment Wednesday.

Johnson was deployed in Cairo in September 2002 when approximately 370 pre-dynastic artifacts were stolen from the Ma’adi Museum near Cairo, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Johnson, whose duties include piloting and commanding attack and scout helicopters, contacted an art dealer in January 2003 and offered to sell a collection of Egyptian antiquities dating to 3000 B.C. or earlier, prosecutors said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_pilotarrested_080206/