An Idaho man has been sentenced to prison for stealing Montana artifacts.
A news release from U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme reported seventy-one year old Roger Edwards Hawkes of Coeur d’Alene,ID, was sentenced Feb.3,2026, by U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnson to nine months in prison for stealing artifacts. He also pleaded guilty to one count of removing archeological resources.
The government alleged in court documents that Hawkes entered the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls on September 14, 2024, and stole two historic weapons. One was an authentic, antique, English, single-shot, black-powder Mortimer pistol and the second a knife in a leather, beaded sheath. Both were made in the late 1700s or early 1800s.
As Hawkes left the building with the stolen artifacts, video surveillance appeared to show him conceal both items up his sleeve.
Both items were later recovered.
The news release said Hawkes has a history of theft that spanned more than 40 years in California, Nevada and Idaho.
