The Larson Conviction

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The Conviction of Peter Larson

by Terry Wentz

October 1997

The subsequent trial of Peter Larson, Terry Wentz, Neal Larson, Robert Farrar, and the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc. on up to 39 charges ranging from conspiracy and money laundering to fossil theft and obstruction of justice had nothing to do with Sue the T. rex and, in fact, the judge (the same judge who made the earlier rulings) forbid lawyers from even mentioning her name during the proceedings.

Peter Larson was convicted for not reporting thirty-six thousand dollars in restrictively endorsed travelers checks he brought into the U. S. from Japan after a trade show there. He also was convicted for not reporting transporting fourteen thousand dollars he took out of the country during a collecting trip to Peru (although he was personally carrying only seven thousand dollars the government claimed he failed to fill out the required forms, that you must ask for, because his partner Susan Hendrickson was also carrying seven thousand dollars). He was also convicted of the theft of fossils from federal land with a value less than one hundred dollars, two misdemeanor counts. The judge sentenced him to two years in prison and two years probation. The prison records show him to be in prison for "failure to fill out forms." After serving over a year and a half in prison Peter is now under house arrest and allowed to go to work. He will be out on probation in mid-November 1997.