LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Clearlake man has been sentenced to jail time, probation and possible restitution in a case involving the possession of American Indian artifacts that authorities say were looted from local archaeological sites.

Brian Gene Smith, 41, pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing ancient American Indian artifacts during a Feb. 21 court appearance, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.

Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Kreutzer arrested Smith on Aug. 22, 2015. Kreutzer originally contacted Smith regarding allegations that he had left an inappropriate letter for a 14-year-old girl, authorities said.

When Kreutzer found Smith, he was behind a business in Lower Lake, appearing to be under the influence of drugs, with his van filled with a number of artifacts – Indian bone fragments, arrowheads, clay pottery bowls, pieces of obsidian and other rocks which were shaped into points, and other items, according to law enforcement reports.

Some of the objects had index cards explaining where they had been located, which the original sheriff’s report said were areas around Clear Lake that had been exposed due to the ongoing drought conditions at the time.

There also was a flash drive that Kreutzer found that had pictures of Smith and another male subject holding obsidian points from an unknown location, authorities said.

Kreutzer knew he had an archaeological crime case on his hands. Two days beforehand, he had finished a training on such crimes which was co-presented by tribal groups and the sheriff’s office, as Lake County News has reported.

Anderson said Smith failed to show at a Nov. 8 court appearance. On his next court appearance on Jan. 6, he said he was autistic and needed the court to explain a jury trial.

Anderson said his office reached an agreement with Smith in which he pleaded on Jan. 10 to the felony charge of unlawfully possessing ancient American Indian artifacts.

As a result of the agreement, a number of other charges Smith originally had been facing – including vandalism and removing or injuring any object of archaeological or historical interest, and drug charges – were not pursued, Anderson said.

On Feb. 21, retired Lake County Superior Court Judge Arthur Mann sentenced Smith to felony probation and 109 days in the county jail plus other terms of probation which include possible restitution to the local American Indian community, according to Anderson.

“We’re elated. We’re happy,” said Dino Beltran, tribal administrator and treasurer of the Koi Nation of Lower Lake.

It was Beltran who had first proposed to Sheriff Brian Martin in early 2015 that the trainings on archaeological crimes be held locally for law enforcement.

The Koi Nation, Robinson Rancheria and the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake form a tribal consortium called Ancestors 1, which entered into a memorandum of understanding with the county of Lake in 2015 to increase protections for cultural resources.

In October the California Office of Historic Preservation awarded the Governor's Historic Preservation Award for 2016 to Ancestors 1 and the county for the agreement, as Lake County News has reported.

Beltrans praised Sheriff Martin for hosting the archaeological crimes class, Kreutzer for his work and Anderson for following through on the prosecution and “saying that this does mean something.”

There have been other busts previous to the one involving Smith, but they didn’t go anywhere or, in one case, were dismissed as lesser charges in a stabbing case, Beltran said.

While this case has come to its conclusion, Beltran said it’s important to keep up the efforts to stop similar crimes. “These are happening often,” he said.

In a 2015 interview, Martin McAllister of Archaeological Damage Investigation & Assessment – who led the archaeological crimes class held in Lake County – told Lake County news that archaeological looting is a very serious problem, and one that’s “much more serious than the American public realizes.”

McAllister said stolen artifacts form a multimillion dollar black market industry in the United States, and cited Interpol numbers that estimates the illicit artifacts trade is a $7 billion annual industry worldwide.

Anderson said the District Attorney's Office will work closely with law enforcement and the American Indian community to help preserve their culture and heritage.

He said his agency is still doing followup on where the artifacts Smith had in possession came from originally in order to return them to the tribe to whom they belong.

As for similar cases, Anderson said his department doesn’t have any others they’re now working on.

Smith’s case, he said, can serve as a deterrent, but he’s also concerned that it could make some people more interested in attempting to seek out such artifacts.

To that second group, he said, “I wouldn’t take a chance.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.