Pardon convicted paleontologist who found famous dinosaur fossil Sue, Senate committee urges
The fossil of Tyrannosaurus rex Sue, at the Field Museum in Chicago. Image from Shutterstock.
Saying that he believes paleontologist Peter Larson didn’t realize he was committing any crime and was overzealously prosecuted for conduct linked to his discovery of a famous Tyrannosaurus rex fossil decades ago, a lawmaker urged the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to call for President Barack Obama to pardon Larson.
The feds in 1992 seized from Larson’s Black Hills Institute of Geological Research the 67 million-year-old dinosaur skeleton known as Sue, which is now housed at Chicago’s Field Museum, after questions arose about the legality of Larson’s possession of dinosaur bones. However, most of the charges against Larson were dropped. He was never convicted of any misconduct concerning Sue, and he served time only for taking another fossil from federal land and lying on customs documents about financial dealings concerning fossil purchases, explains the Associated Press.
“It was the best of times, because we had just found the bones, but then it was the worst of times. I faced the longest criminal trial in South Dakota history, and was sentenced to two years in prison, all because I failed to fill out some forms. It was a scary time,” Larson told the Rapid City Journal last year, recalling the events of 1990 and thereafter.
“We were disheartened when he was sent to prison many years ago, and we are now here to present a plea to you to help us get this resolution sent on to the president to request his pardon,” said Rep. Mike Verchio, R-South Dakota, and his colleagues on the judiciary committee agreed.
The U.S. House has already agreed to ask Obama to pardon Larson and the full Senate will now vote on Thursday’s recommendation by the judiciary committee.
Rutgers University provides a copy of a 1994 opinion by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which discusses the criminal case in detail.
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