Three Tennessee Men Indicted For Taking Civil War Artifacts From Tennessee River On TVA Land In Alabama

BIRMINGHAM -- A federal grand jury today indicted three Tennessee men on charges connected to the removal of Civil War-era archaeological artifacts from the Tennessee River at Bridgeport in Jackson County, Ala., announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Tennessee Valley Authority Police Director David Jolley.

An indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges KENNETH STEPHEN FAGIN JR., 38, of South Pittsburg, Tenn., TERRY BRUCE TATE, 60, of Jasper, Tenn., and ANGELO DOMINIC PERUIT, 46, of Knoxville, Tenn., under the Archeological Resources Protection Act.

The indictment charges Fagin, former owner of Historical Resurrections in Jasper, Tenn., with one count of excavating and removing archeological resources from public lands, the Tennessee River at Bridgeport, in April 2010. It charges Fagin and Tate with one count of exchanging and transporting archeological resources taken from the river in March 2010. The indictment also charges Fagin and Peruit, owner of The Army of Tennessee Civil War Relics in Knoxville, with one count of offering to sell and exchange archeological resources removed from the river between April 1, 2010, and Aug. 31, 2011. The resources, in all counts, are said to have a commercial value and a cost of restoration and repair in excess of $500.

Each of the charges carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

TVA Police Investigations Unit investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David H. Estes is prosecuting.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.