FARMINGTON – A former Phillips Historical Society president pleaded guilty Friday to stealing antiques belonging to the society.
Kenneth R. Teele, 63, formerly of Phillips and now of Gray, was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and to pay $31,612 in restitution.
Teele was initially indicted on a felony charge of receiving more than $10,000 in stolen property. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft.
He was accused in February 2004 of putting thousands of dollars worth of rare railroad antiques from the museum’s collection up for auction at Cyr Auction Co. in Gray. Those collectibles included two circa-1879 books of stock certificates for the Sandy River Railroad.
Assistant District Attorney James Andrews said that in exchange for his plea, Teele agreed to turn over all proceeds from the auction to the Phillips Historical Society.
Some of the items that were sold were known to belong to Teele.
Teele had resigned as the president of the society in 2000, after eight years in that position. He moved to Gray.
Linda Bean Folkers of Cumberland bought the stock certificate books for about $10,000 at the time of the auction. She turned over the stocks to the court in December.
Cyr Auction Co. held $31,612 – the proceeds from all of the items sold at the auction – in an account after learning that the certificates were not Teele’s.
The historical society will be reimbursed, and part of that money – about $10,000 – will be used to reimburse Bean Folkers. Also, items that she was subpoenaed to turn over to the state, except the stocks, will be returned.
The society is not going to recover everything, Andrews said.
Teele had told police earlier that the other items auctioned off were his, but some society members believed those items belonged to the museum.
When society members looked through the collection after the case was made public, they discovered that some items were missing, along with an inventory showing who had loaned or donated items to the society.
“They’re getting money in lieu of property,” he said. “It’s impossible to know how many items or what items belonged to the society.”
“We pretty much knew what was going to happen,” said society Vice President Dennis Atkinson.
The society had agreed to the lower charge to get the money to attempt to buy back some of the items auctioned off, he said. Several items were sold in a box lot, he said.
Also, there were some pictures and postcards that are stamped “Phillips Historical Society,” which the district attorney has and which the society wants to buy back.
The society also says one surveyor book from a set of 22 is missing, and it wants to get that too, he said.
“We feel that this stuff doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to the townspeople. We’re just the caretakers and this is the best way to get these items back,” Atkinson said.
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