Transylvania U. Book Thieves Sentenced to Seven Years

Kentucky U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman sentenced four men convicted of stealing rare manuscripts from the Transylvania University Library to more than seven years in prison, the AP reported. The four, Eric Borsuk, Charles Allen II, Warren C. Lipka, and Spencer W, Reinhard, all age 20, begin their sentences January 16. On December 27, 2004, two of the suspects were alleged to have physically assaulted and restrained a special collections librarian, then fled with two others in a gray minivan. Among the volumes stolen were an 1859 first edition of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (Click on title above for more information) and a number of sketches by John James Audubon. They later attempted to sell the books through auction house Christie's, whose staff tipped off investigators leading to the arrests.