Boire charged in connection with missing artifact

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Matthew M. Boire is taken from Plattsburgh City Court after being arraigned Tuesday morning on a felony charge of possessing stolen property. He allegedly had a Civil War uniform coat belonging to the Clinton County Historical Association. Rob Fountain

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March 26, 2008

Anonymous The Press Republican Wed Mar 26, 2008, 12:43 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH — A Plattsburgh man who had previously admitted to stealing historical items and selling them on eBay has been arrested again.

On Tuesday, Plattsburgh City Police arrested Matthew M. Boire, 25, for allegedly possessing, in July 2007, a stolen Civil War uniform coat belonging to the Clinton County Historical Association.

The coat has been appraised at about $5,000.

City Police received a tip through Bob Hudson, a co-founder of the U.S. Militaria Forum, an online discussion and research forum for collectors of U.S. military gear, that fake military caps were being sold on eBay.

Hudson had seen Press-Republican articles about Boire and suspected he might be the person trying to sell the caps online.

During the investigation, City Police detectives uncovered that Boire had possessed the stolen Civil War uniform in July 2007. He had failed to disclose it before his plea in January of this year to previous crimes connected with the Clinton County Historical Association.

Photos taken at Boire’s apartment last year after a search warrant was issued show the coat, according to Detective Pat Rascoe.

The coat has not been recovered, City Police said, and the investigation is continuing.

Boire was arraigned in Plattsburgh City Court Tuesday morning on a felony charge of third-degree criminal possession of stolen property. He was sent to Clinton County Jail for not paying $2,500 cash bail or $5,000 bond.

He is already serving three years of probation and performing 300 hours of community service for stealing artifacts from the Historical Association, for which he had previously served as a board member.

He was arrested in August 2007 for taking Historical Association museum pieces to his home without permission and attempting to sell some of them online.

When he was arrested, Boire told police he had planned to donate the proceeds of those sales back to the Historical Association, although he admitted he never turned over $965 he made from an eBay sale of an 1800s saber from the museum collection.

He pleaded guilty last October to petit larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, both misdemeanors.