GREENBELT, Md. - A former National Archives employee pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing and selling recordings from his former employer, including an original 1937 sound recording of baseball legend Babe Ruth.
Leslie Charles Waffen, who spent 40 years working at the National Archives and Records Administration, pleaded guilty to stealing property from the agency that safeguards government records including the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Waffen acknowledged stealing at least 955 "sound recording items" from the archives, which were seized from his Maryland home in October 2010. More than 6,000 items were seized at the time, though Tuesday's hearing in federal court in Greenbelt, Md., did not make clear the nature of the other recordings.
According to a plea agreement Waffen, 66, stole and sold items from the archives between 2001 and 2010, selling some of the recordings on eBay. The sales included an original master recording of Babe Ruth hunting from 1937, which Waffen sold for $34.74.
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