Items included letters from Nancy Russell, wife of C.M. Russell
By Blair Miller DAILY MONTANAN
An author who has written several books about Montana pleaded not guilty this week in federal court to charges alleging he stole items from the Montana Historical Society over the course of a year and sold or tried to sell them on eBay.
Brian D’Ambrosio, 49, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to one count of theft of major artwork, one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, and eight counts of wire fraud in a federal court hearing in Great Falls.
D’Ambrosio was indicted in November but the case was unsealed this week when he made his first appearance in the case over Zoom.
According to the indictment, from April 2022 through September of last year, D’Ambrosio would go to the Historical Society in Helena, claim he was doing research, and steal items from the archives, which he then put up for sale on eBay without saying they were stolen.
The FBI had an undercover agent contact D’Ambrosio posing as a buyer to confirm he was the man selling the allegedly stolen items, according to the indictment. He is accused of sending the stolen items from Montana to New Mexico and elsewhere.
The indictment shows eight items D’Ambrosio is accused of stealing and selling – most of which are more than 100 years old and worth thousands of dollars.
They include a Crow program for the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1926; a 1905 Centennial Brewing letter from Butte; an 1889 Montana Society of the Framers of the Constitution Convention Flag and Program; a Ravalli County sheriff card from the early 1900s; a telegram and letters written by Nancy Russell, the wife of C.M. Russell; and stock certificates and letters from the late 1800s and early 1900s involving the Silver Cliff Mining Company, U.S. Silver Service Commission; and Mexican Central Railway Company.
In a written statement Friday, Eve Byron, the spokesperson for the Montana Historical Society, said it was working with federal and state investigators in the case and had increased security measures.
“The Montana Historical Society is cooperating with the Helena PD, FBI Salt Lake Division, the FBI Art Crime Team, and MT Department of Criminal Investigations in the situation involving items identified as stolen from our archival collections,” Byron said. “During our current closure (due to construction and renovation of the Montana Heritage Center), we have reviewed and strengthened our security measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
A Missoula-based attorney representing D’Ambrosio declined to comment on the case when reached by email.
The government did not seek detention in the case, and D’Ambrosio was released after Tuesday’s hearing pending his next court appearance. According to a scheduling order in the case, a jury trial date was set for March 19 in Great Falls if a plea agreement is not reached by March 5.
D’Ambrosio has written numerous books with various ties to Montana, and online biographies say he has lived here for more than 20 years. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said this week he lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
His works involving Montana include a book about unsolved murders, one about Montana entertainers, films made in Montana, ties between the National Football League and Montana, and a boxer from the Flathead Indian Reservation – the latter of which was a 2016 finalist for the High Plains Book Award.
Websites show he has previously presented at the Montana Book Festival and, more recently, held a book signing last October at Aunt Bonnie’s Books in Helena. An Independent Record article from October said D’Ambrosio also co-owns an herbal store in Santa Fe and is a private investigator in three states.
The counts D’Ambrosio faces carry dozens of years in prison if he is convicted on all of them, along with hundreds of thousands in fines. Should he be convicted, he would have to forfeit any property or proceeds he made from the sales, as well as $15,000.
