Museum volunteer sentenced for stealing war artifacts

SEDALIA, Mo. – A former volunteer at a small Missouri museum has been sentenced to five years of probation for stealing Civil War and World War I artifacts and then rearranging display cases to conceal the thefts.

The Sedalia Democrat reports that 39-year-old Terry Cockrell was a 2010 Sedalia mayoral candidate who volunteered at the Pettis County Museum for years before moving to Coffeyville, Kansas.

He pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of felony stealing $750 or more. Prosecutors agreed to drop a second charge of stealing as part of a plea agreement. He is required to pay almost $3,000 in restitution and court costs.

He confessed in April to stealing and selling six artifacts, mostly firearms. The whereabouts of three artifacts, including a Civil War era surgical kit, remain unknown.

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Information from: The Sedalia Democrat, http://www.sedaliademocrat.com