Historian Steals, Sells Dog Tags From National Archives

COLLEGE PARK, MD — A historian at the National Archives in Maryland has admitted that he stole hundreds of documents and military dog tags worn by veterans, including IDs issued to a Tuskeegee Airman who was killed when his plane was shot down in World War II. Antonin DeHays, 33, of College Park, Maryland, pleaded guilty Thursday to theft of government property stemming from the theft of government records from the National Archives and Records Administration, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland.

According to the plea agreement, from December 2012 through June 2017, DeHays stole and sold U.S. service members’ dog tags and other records from the public research room at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. Prosecutors say DeHays stole at least 291 U.S. service members’ dog tags and at least 134 other records from the institution. Some of these dog tags showed damage, such as dents and charring due to fire sustained during the crashes.

For example, on or about December 9, 2016, DeHays visited the National Archives at College Park and stole two dog tags, one silver and one brass, issued to a downed Tuskegee Airman, who died when his fighter plane crashed in Germany on Sept. 22, 1944. DeHays gave the brass dog tag to a military aviation museum in exchange for the opportunity to sit inside a Spitfire airplane.

In a separate incident, court documents say DeHays stole two dog tags that were linked together with a wire loop. One of the dog tags was issued to a U.S. serviceman who served in World War II, and the other dog tag was issued to his father, who had served in World War I.

DeHays stole other records, in addition to dog tags, from the National Archives at College Park, including identification cards, personal letters, photographs, a bible, and pieces of downed U.S. aircraft.

Although DeHays kept some of the stolen dog tags and records for himself and gave others as gifts, he sold most of the stolen items on eBay and elsewhere. Before selling the dog tags, DeHays sometimes removed from the markings made in pencil which could have been used to identify the dog tags as having been stolen from the National Archives.

Authorities say that on one occasion, DeHays sent a text message to a potential buyer stating that certain dog tags for sale were “burnt and show some stains of fuel, blood . . . very powerful items that witness the violence of the crash.” Another time he texted a customer that a dog tag for sale was “salty” (bearing the signs of war-related damage) and that an officer ID and American Red Cross ID for sale were “partially burned.”

DeHays faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has been set for April 4 at 9:30 a.m. at the United States District Court in Greenbelt.

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