followup: man pleads guilty to trafficking native hawai'ian human remains on eBay

sometimes there is some justice. in regards to an earlier post on this site, it seems the culprit has been caught - and pled guilty.

Man pleads guilty to trying to sell Hawaiian skull

North County Times wire services, 14 january 2005

Los Angeles - A Huntington Beach man who tried to sell the 200-year-old skull of a Native Hawaiian warrior on eBay pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge.

Jerry Hasson apparently took the skull from an excavation site near a Maui beach in 1969.

The then-teen and his friends sneaked into the archaeological site - it was determined to be the location of one of King Kamehameha's bloody battles to unify the Hawaiian islands - and uncovered an entire skeleton, but only kept the skull, Hasson stated in his auction notice.

In his plea deal with the government, the 55-year-old acknowledges that he was trying to sell the skull in an auction where bidding started at $1000. Buyers who wanted to forgo the auction and "Buy it Now" could pay $12500, according to the plea agreement.

The eBay posting sparked an e-mail to Hasson from a member of a Native Hawaiian group, who asked that the auction be stopped and that the skull be returned to the group for reburial.

The e-mail warned Hasson that selling the skull would violate the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act, and might violate the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act - which bars interstate or foreign commerce in archaeological resources that may have been unearthed illegally.

Hasson responded by removing the auction posting from eBay.

Last February, a US Bureau of Indian Affairs agent posing as a potential buyer sent Hasson an e-mail, inquiring about the skull.

Hasson responded that he took the auction page down because it was offensive to native Hawaiians, and that he was instead offering the skull directly to a handful of "serious bidders."

Hasson then negotiated with the undercover agent, eventually agreeing that the skull would be sold for $2500, which would be disguised as a payment for a 1966 Fanzine comic to be sold on eBay.

Hasson entered the guilty plea in Los Angeles to one count of trafficking in an archaeological resource via interstate commerce. Sentencing is set for May 23.

In his plea deal, Hasson agrees to perform at least 600 hours of community service and to publish, and pay for, an apology to the citizens of Hawaii in three newspapers in the state.

The judge could also sentence Hasson to a year to 18 months behind bars and prosecutors have reserved the right to recommend a $15000 fine.

Hasson's lawyer has declined to comment on the case.

because, really, what the fuck is he going to say? "my client is a pile of human faeces who got what he deserved"? i still hold that "[h]is penalty should be to be stuffed and posed in a public window after his death. which, frankly, should be sped up by some hefty beatings with a qulu maika." (picture of said object at right.)

here's a post announcing his arrest in september of 2004:

Charges filed in eBay skull case
Sally Apgar, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 9 September 2004

Federal prosecutors say a California man put the item up for bid

A California man was criminally charged yesterday for allegedly trying to sell on eBay.com what he claimed was the skull of a 200-year-old Hawaiian warrior.

Jerry David Hasson, 55, of Huntington Beach allegedly started the bidding at $1000 and set an immediate purchase price of $12500 last February, according to a statement issued yesterday by the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.

Along with a picture of the skull, a description of it ran on eBay that said the skull came from "one of King Kamehameha's bloody battle sites in his war to unite the Hawaiian Islands in the 1790s."

Hasson also wrote on eBay, "For the last 34 years, I've kept this 200-year-old Hawaiian warrior as a souvenir of my youth, but now it's time to give it up to the highest bidder."

Hasson was charged yesterday with illegally trying to sell the skull and therefore criminally violating the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act. Hasson faces a maximum fine of $250,000 and a maximum federal prison term of five years.

Hasson did not return telephone calls to his home.

Assistant US Attorney William Carter said Hasson will be arraigned in about two weeks.

In a telephone interview, John Fryar, a special agent with the Bureau of Indian Affairs who investigated the case, said Hasson obtained the skull when he was a teenager visiting Kaanapali Beach on Maui in 1969 during the time when Whalers Village, a shopping center, was being built.

Fryar said that Hasson decided to sell it "when he saw the prices of human skulls selling on the Internet."

Edward Halealoha Ayau, a spokesman for Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei ("Group Caring for the Ancestors of Hawai'i"), a native Hawai'ian organization involved in the reparation and reburial of native Hawaiian remains and artifacts, said yesterday that several people alerted him by e-mail when the skull went on eBay.

"It looked Hawaiian," said Ayau describing the picture of the skull. "I wouldn't have done anything if it hadn't looked Hawaiian."

Ayau said he e-mailed Hasson that selling a skull was illegal under federal laws.

"I pleaded for him to take it off the Internet," said Ayau.

Ayau said yesterday he then contacted federal agents. Once the skull is no longer needed as evidence, it will be reburied, said Ayau.

Hui Malama is supporting a federal investigation of the alleged theft of artifacts from a burial cave on the Big Island. The artifacts allegedly showed up for sale in July on the black market.

In a detailed affidavit of his investigation, Fryar said that after being alerted to the sale, he started posing on the Internet as an interested buyer from New Mexico named John Garcia.

The affidavit said Hasson allegedly e-mailed back that he had recently learned that the auction of the skull was offensive to native Hawaiians and had chosen to take it off eBay and sell it privately.

According to Fryar's affidavit, Hasson told him that his attorney told him that if he gave the skull as a gift, he might not violate laws.

The affidavit details the negotiations Fryar alleges he had with Hasson.

It says Hasson suggested that Fryar or a friend buy a comic Fanzine online for the price of the skull, and "then I will GIFT to you the skull. That way there's no connection whatsoever."

Fryar agreed to buy a Fanzine, believed to be worth about $20, for $2500. Hasson sent the skull Federal Express to Fryar.

According to the affidavit, Hasson said he was a teenager during the excavations for Whalers Village. He said that he and two others evaded guards and sneaked into the site one night. He said he dug into the sand and found part of a leg and kept digging until he found the skull.

The affidavit also quoted Hasson saying "right next to this skeleton, there were some warrior artifacts ... like hatchets and stuff like that, but I was afraid to take those things, I left those in the sand."

fucker. i've half a mind to go do some research and dig up his momma's grave and sell her dead fucking body over eBay.