COLUMBUS – A Wellston man will be placed under house arrest, pay a fine and reimburse the Miami Tribe the cost of reinterring Native American remains he is accused of trying to purchase, federal officials announced Wednesday.
Mark Beatty, 56, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to violating the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act by purchasing human remains of Native Americans, said Carter Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. He says it is the first criminal enforcement of the 25-year-old law in his jurisdiction.
Beatty and the other parties involved have agreed to serve three years’ probation, including three months on house arrest, pay a $3,500 fine and $1,000 in restitution to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to pay for the private re-burial of the remains at an undisclosed in Ohio, Stewart said.
As part of his plea, Beatty has also agreed to publish an advertisement warning others not to engage in illegal excavation of Native American bones and artifacts and to perform 100 hours of community service for a program “that protects or promotes the interests of Native Americans,” Stewart said.
According to court documents, three men were spotted digging in a rock shelter on a farm in Salt Creek Valley in Jackson County. They ran into the woods, leaving behind shovels, dirt sifters, buckets and trash.
Investigators confirmed that at least two individuals had unearthed human remains and Beatty admitted to purchasing them.
An anthropologist confirmed that the remains were consistent with Native Americans, citing the use of cradle boarding, a practice used only by Native American Indians in North America.
An archeologist verified that rock shelters were used extensively for burials in southern Ohio and specifically in Jackson County.
DNA testing concluded a direct connection to present day Native American Indians living in the United States today.
Jackson County Sheriff Tedd Frazier said Beatty bought the remains of eight individuals, two adults and six children, some of which were believed to be of prehistoric origin, according to a report in the Columbus Dispatch.