KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal grand jury handed up an 11-count indictment charging a Clinton, Missouri, man for illegally excavating a prehistoric Native American site.
Johnny Lee Brown, 70, allegedly caused more than $300,000 in damages to the site near Tightwad, Missouri, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in KCMO.
Brown and other co-conspirators, illegally excavated archeological treasures from federal lands at Harry S. Truman Lake in Henry County, Missouri, the news release states.
The prehistoric site on a peninsula at Truman Lake dates to 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.
Brown and others involved in the scheme used tools including rakes, shovels and hoes, according to the release.
The Osage Nation said the damage to the site "greatly impacts" the cultural history of the Osage Nation and affiliated tribes.
The grand jury indictment states Brown and others went to the site 10 times for excavation efforts.
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