Press Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Hawaii
PJKK Federal Building (808) 541-2850
300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 6-100 FAX (808) 541-2958
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
June 4, 2007
For Immediate Release
P R E S S R E L E A S E
Big Island resident Daniel Taylor, age 39, was sentenced today by the Honorable Leslie E. Kobayashi, Magistrate Judge for the District of Hawaii, to a term of 11 months imprisonment. Taylor was sentenced for his role in a conspiracy to sell, use for profit, and transport for sale and profit Native Hawaiian artifacts that had been repatriated and re-buried at Kanupa Cave located on the island of Hawaii. He was ordered to begin serving his sentence on September 11, 2007.
Edward H. Kubo, Jr., United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that Taylor was charged with co-defendant, John Carta, in a two-count Information filed on March 24, 2006, for his involvement in the removal of the Native Hawaiian ancestral remains and funerary objects from the cave. As part of the federal repatriation process, the items had been turned over by various museums, including Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, to four designated Native Hawaiian Organizations, including Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaii Island Burial Council, and Ka Lahui Hawaii. These organizations had buried the items in the cave in November 2003.
On March 24, 2006, Taylor pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to the conspiracy charge. According to information produced in court, he admitted agreeing with John Carta to find the cave containing Native Hawaiian artifacts with the understanding that they would sell any artifacts they discovered for a profit. On or about June 17, 2004, Taylor and Carta found the cave and removed approximately 157 artifacts, several of which contained labels indicating they belonged to the J.S. Emerson Collection, a collection of artifacts taken from Kanupa Cave in the late 1800's and sold to museums, including the Bishop Museum.
Among the artifacts from Kanupa cave that Taylor sold or attempted to sell for a profit were: a piece of kapa he sold to a tourist for $150; a fisherman’s bowl and cover he sold to a collector for $2,083; a palaoa he offered a collector for $40,000; and a kupee, which he posted for sale on the internet for $5,600.
On January 31, 2007, Taylor’s co-defendant, Carta, was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 12 months. He passed away prior to reporting to prison.
This criminal investigation was conducted by both the Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General and the National Parks Service. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Clare Connors and Larry Tong.
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