Acting United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Mobridge, South Dakota, man charged with Excavation of Archaeological Resources pled guilty to and was sentenced on June 25, 2015, by U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes.
Carl Overbey, a/k/a CJ Overbey, age 40, was sentenced to 1 year probation, a fine in the amount of $1,000, and a special assessment of $25 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Overbey was also ordered to turn over the illegally taken artifacts.
The conviction stems from an incident that took place during the week of Sept. 15, 2014, when a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent was notified by the Walworth County Sheriff’s office that the Sheriff had seized a collection of Native American artifacts from Overbey. The agent had contact with two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Archaeologists in October of 2014, who recognized that the collection contained numerous artifacts that appeared to be consistent with those known to come from public land along the Missouri river. The agent also identified two eagle bone whistles in the collection. Overbey admitted that he had personally collected the artifacts from the Revheim Recreation area, southeast of Mobridge, and the Point of View area north of Mobridge. He also admitted that he knowingly went to those areas looking for artifacts and removed any artifacts he found.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
