Two Poles, a Hungarian and a German antique dealer were sentenced on Friday to terms ranging from 15 months to five years in prison by the Béziers criminal court (Hérault), as part of the dismantling of a vast traffic in old geographical maps, which had been stolen from libraries.
The main defendant, a 58-year-old Pole, already convicted for similar acts, entered libraries and cut high-value maps with a cutter from old books: 82 maps from the 15th and 16th centuries were stolen.
For these 52 thefts committed in several cities in France, he was sentenced to five years in prison.
Up to 150,000 euros per card
His accomplice, a 52-year-old Pole who laundered the money by buying cars that he then resold in Spain, was sentenced to three years in prison.
A second accomplice, a 56-year-old Hungarian, who provided telephone cards but did not take part in the thefts, was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
A three-year suspended sentence was finally pronounced against a 38-year-old German antique dealer who was being prosecuted for concealment.
His family runs a business of antique maps and books in Berlin.
Some old maps in very good condition can sell for up to 150,000 euros, he explained at the hearing.
All of the convicts will also have to jointly reimburse 50,000 euros to the Clermont-Ferrand library, the others having not compiled a file for a request for compensation.
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The travel diary of an explorer stolen 34 years ago returned to the City of Provins
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