The Dinosaur Artist
Page 49
If Buffon had had no audience, his diss might have passed without consequence; but he happened to be a bestselling author whose readers comprised the upper classes of Europe. The negative assessment of the New World, whose colonial leaders would soon go to war for their independence, was a sort of thrown glove. In her soiled undergarments, amid chilly drear, America noxiously exhaled an eventual response, from no less than the eventual author of the Declaration of Independence: Jefferson answered Buffon’s claims one by one. To the question of America’s embarrassing poet gap, he wrote, “When we shall have existed as a people as long as the Greeks did before they produced a Homer” (or the English a Shakespeare, or the French a Voltaire)—well, then they could talk. Re: the observation about the absence of “one able mathematician, one man of genius in a single art or a single science,” Jefferson noted that in war, America had produced a Washington, and in astronomy a Rittenhouse, and in physics a Franklin, adding, of his burgeoning nation, “We...have reason to believe she can produce her full quota of genius.” To the question of physical robustness, he moved to weights and measures, making a size chart of animals common to both continents, right down to the shrew mouse. It was ludicrous to suggest that Nature favored one side of the globe over the other—“as if both sides were not warmed by the same genial sun...” Jefferson’s report became Notes on the State of Virginia, his only book. In a much-repeated anecdote, recounted in a letter by Jefferson dated December 4, 1818, Ben Franklin was said to have taken a more direct approach to rebuffing the baron: at a dinner party in Paris where half the guests were American and half were French, the writer Guillaume-Thomas Raynal “got on his favourite theory of the degeneracy of animals, and even of man, in America.” Franklin, noticing the “accidental stature” of each side of the table—the French happened to be seated opposite the Americans—said, “Let both parties rise, and we will see on which side nature has degenerated.” Voilà qui est réglé—that settled that.
28. “openly sold”: In USA v. One Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton, Prokopi made various arguments for being awarded the dinosaur: The government’s actions were unfairly based upon “technical violations” he hadn’t been aware of and “upon foreign laws that are largely unavailable to American citizens and are unclear in both their meaning and application”; Mongolia’s laws on private property were murky or contradictory. Mongolia’s cabinet minister for culture and science had the authority to approve “the sell [sic] or temporary exchange of historical and cultural [sic] valuable object.” But this fact remained: it was illegal to sell or transfer ownership rights of such objects to foreigners. The Mongolian legal adviser to President Elbegdorj who researched the relevant laws was Bayartsetseg Jigmiddash, who had been a visiting scholar at Columbia Law School and, in 2008, earned her law degree at Harvard.
29. “I stand to be educated” and related: I covered the hearing and obtained a transcript from Southern District Reporters, the court reporting agency that took dictation for the Southern District of New York. The paleontologists’ letters can be found in 12-CIV-4760, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
30. “I’m just a guy”: Eric Prokopi statement to the press.
31. “Frankenstein”: Hearing transcript, 12-CIV-4760, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
CHAPTER 18: RAID!
1. eBay items: I documented sales items/comments from the Florida Fossils account as the T. bataar legal matter unfolded in 2012 and 2013.
2. “It’s not like we murdered someone!”: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi.
3. “People might think”: Ibid.
4. “Like, America just got involved”: Ibid.
5. “This couldn’t come at a worse time”: Papers of Eric Prokopi.
6. “Dear Butts”: Hollis Butts told me by email, “I owed no money.”
7. Otgo: These details came from my extended interview with Otgo in Ulaanbaatar in August 2015, and via other sources.
8. “Isn’t it because Mongolian paleontologists”: B. Odontuva, “Ts. Oyungerel: When Eric Prokopi Was Arrested, Delivery of Another Dinosaur Skeleton Arrived at His Home,” UB Post, October 26, 2012.
9. “I also had the fear”: Ibid.
10. “Financing Geology, Paleontology, and Natural Science Study”: I had this contract translated from Mongolian to English by someone unrelated to the T. bataar case.
11. Libel laws and media transparency: The Mongolian government generally respected press freedoms and did not interfere with internet access, as happened in other countries, but “many journalists and independent publications practice[d] a degree of self-censorship to avoid legal action...,” Freedom House reported in its annual human rights report in 2012. The burden of proof fell, unusually, upon the defendant. Journalists had been sued by members of parliament, businesspeople, and private organizations, and had been unfairly subjected to tax audits. In 2015, one blogger would be sentenced to a hundred days in prison for badmouthing a government minister on Twitter, “the first time Mongolia’s libel laws were extended to comments made on social media.” Reports can be found at freedomhouse.org. Also see Lisa Gardner, “Mongolia’s Media Laws Threaten Press Freedom,” UB Post, May 4, 2014.
12. “Is Eric Koproki here?”: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi.
13. “These nice men”: Ibid.
14. “Why are there TV trucks”: Ibid.
15. “do a bail” and “always been angels”: Ibid.
16. “It’s not just stuff”: Ibid.
17. Told Amanda not to open that box: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi and Georges Lederman.
18. “This fresh conduct”: AUSA Martin Bell’s request and other documents can be found in United States of America v. Eric Prokopi, 12-CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
19. “We want to make this illegal business practice extinct”: United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, “Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Florida Man for Illegally Importing Dinosaur Fossils,” press release, October 17, 2012.
20. “merely the tip of the iceberg”: Ibid.
21. “like he was some bad guy” and related: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi.
22. “treasure hunters”: Interviews with Tyler Guynn and Eric Prokopi.
23. “mother again” and “This is going to sound”: Interviews with Tyler Guynn and Eric Prokopi.
24. “I didn’t mean to kill you”: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi. Later, she said, “Maybe it’s my stupidity, but I kind of get it.” People do crazy things when they’re stressed. Not that she was completely chill about it. At one point, Tyler texted Amanda to try to smooth things over because they were all about to attend the same black-tie event in Gainesville. “I’m sorry that my decisions have affected you—I mean I’m a class act,” Tyler told me she told Amanda. “She sent me this long thing: ‘I don’t know what to tell ya. You stole the love of my life, and it wasn’t nice.’”
25. “I can’t go through my mourning”: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi. The children “love Tyler and she’s really good with them, and as a mom I can’t ask for more,” Amanda later said. “And she’s taken care of Eric. I love Eric enough that I just want him to be happy, and if being with her makes him happy, that’s fine.”
26. Guilt: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi and Tyler Guynn.
27. “Don’t worry”: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi.
28. October 22 court hearing: I covered this hearing.
29. Count 1: Prokopi had ordered a Microraptor skeleton from a dealer in China. When UPS called to ask for an accurate description and value, Prokopi had emailed the dealer, “What did you write on the shipment? I need to know what to tell them.” The dealer replied, “Sample of craft rock” with a value of thirty dollars. After days passed without the shipment clearing customs, Prokopi had emailed the dealer, “I am worried that they will take the item because you declared the value too low.” The dealer had asked what he should do with the “other 8 ones,�
�� and what value to declare. Prokopi had responded, “Geological specimen for collection. Value $1000.” The dealer had told Prokopi, “Selling fossils like this is not allowed in China.” Homeland Security had intercepted the Microraptor. Prokopi had protested the seizure by letter, complaining that he couldn’t afford to lose his thousand-dollar investment. He had faulted the Chinese supplier for the “mixup,” saying he “did not speak English well.” See 12-CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
30. “multiple containers”: See 12-CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
31. “taken from Mongolia”: Ibid.
32. “about half a million” and related: For more information, see 12-CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
33. stricter bond agreement: The prosecution’s evidence that day included the long-ago letter from David Webb, of the Florida Museum of Natural History, who had written to Prokopi, banning him from the collection and quarries. The judge noted that the Brooksville incident had happened eighteen years earlier. Prokopi’s criminal defense attorney, Georges Lederman, argued that the landowner had once given Eric permission to hunt at the Brooksville site, and that Prokopi was the person who had discovered it. He argued against the higher bond amount, saying the case had left Prokopi with no way to make a living. “I mean is there really a risk he’ll leave the country?” the judge asked AUSA Martin Bell, who replied, “He’s a party in the black market....These are real concerns.” Meanwhile, the attorneys in the in rem case were on their way out but filed one last attempt to have the T. bataar action dismissed, writing, “If Government investigators honestly believe that Prokopi engaged in criminal conduct cumulating [sic] in consigning the Tarbosaurus Bataar Display Piece...for sale in public auction, why not treat the matter as a criminal one from the start?” See “Reply Memorandum of Law in Support of Claimant Eric Prokopi’s Renewed Motion to Dismiss and Request for Expedited Consideration,” 12-CIV-4760, October 23, 2012, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
34. “was like rubbing the tarbo”: I obtained emails confirming this conversation.
35. “Tell me what you did”: The federal magistrate was Ronald L. Ellis. I obtained a transcript of the hearing, which is part of USA v. Eric Prokopi, 12-MG-2634, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
CHAPTER 19: VERDICT
1. Divorce: Details can be found in the Prokopi divorce case file, 2013- DR-002572, a public document that I viewed in person via the Alachua County Clerk of Court, in Gainesville.
2. “This is the least of what’s depressing”: Interviews with Eric Prokopi.
3. “treasure hunting”: Interviews with Eric Prokopi and Tyler Guynn.
4. “Ultimately we’re the house”: See “Author’s Note.”
5. “It did take some work...speaking with him”: Hearing transcript.
6. “Is that moral?”: The Orchid Thief, by Susan Orlean (Random House, 1998).
7. “He’s such a difficult person for the average person to believe”: See Author’s Note on sourcing.
8. Mongolian detainment: One State Department report quoted Mongolian law as stipulating “there need be no actual arrest warrant or any sort of official determination that charges are warranted: mere complaint by an aggrieved party is sufficient to deny exit.” See U.S. embassy, “2013 Mongolia Investment Climate Statement,” Ulaanbaatar, January 15, 2013. For information about detainments of foreign businesspeople see Hannah Beech, “The Jailing of Foreigners in Mongolia Is Unnerving the Business Community,” Time, February 5, 2015. Also see Julie Makinen, “American, 2 Others Pardoned in Mongolia Tax-Evasion Case,” Los Angeles Times, February 26, 2015.
9. “There the unfortunate prisoners”: Roy Chapman Andrews made this comment at a New York City lecture in front of nearly two thousand people, his first public address after returning from the Gobi. See “Gobi Desert Life Seen by Andrews,” New York Times, November 25, 1923. This and other hard-copy clippings otherwise unavailable via the Times’s online database were found in the American Museum of Natural History’s research library.
10. “The most fiendish tortures”: Ibid.
11. “Torture persists, particularly in police stations”: See “Civil and Political Rights, Including: The Questions of Torture and Detention,” by Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. United Nations Commission on Human Rights, December 20, 2005.
12. “no one shall be subjected to torture”: Mongolian Constitution.
13. “flying to space”: Nowak, “Civil and Political Rights.” The term calls to mind descriptions of torture by one old Mongolian who participated in the purges of the 1930s: “They were placed on tall stools next to a hot stove for interrogations that sometimes lasted days....Soviet advisers had told the Mongolians to use such methods.” See Kathy Chenault, “Mongolians Seek Truth of Purges,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1992.
14. “Mere complaint by an aggrieved party”: U.S. Embassy, “2013 Mongolia Investment Climate Statement,” January 15, 2013.
15. “state secret”: Nowak, “Civil and Political Rights.”
16. “among the most restrictive and punitive”: See “State Secrets Law: An Invitation to Corruption and a Blight on Mongolia’s Human Rights Record,” a “sensitive but unclassified” cable from the U.S. embassy in Ulaanbaatar to the State Department, dated March 31, 2006. The state-secrets law extended the definition to “not only national security interests but also to maps finer than a 1:200,000 scale, to statistics on the number of prisoners, to basic economic and census data, to the identity of shareholders in private companies, to audits of state owned companies, to access by citizens to state archives.” Mongolia had not only a 1995 Law on State Secrets but also a 2004 List of State Secrets, which altogether “set up such far reaching restrictions on access to government records in Mongolia as to make it possible for virtually anything to be classified as ‘secret’ and hidden from the public view for an indefinite period.” This was the kind of secrecy that bred “irresponsibility” among government officials, the embassy pointed out, saying, “The lack of transparency leads to corruption.”
17. “Authorities remain fearful”: See “Assessment of Corruption in Mongolia,” a 2005 report by USAID.
18. “complete isolation”: Nowak, “Civil and Political Rights.”
19. “I feel that he did something wrong”: This conversation took place in Land O’ Lakes in August 2014, a few weeks before Prokopi went to prison.
20. “I am doing thomthing”: Papers of Eric Prokopi.
21. “law enforcement renaissance”: Sentencing transcript, USA v. Eric Prokopi, 12- CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
22. “He described his childhood”: “Presentence Investigation Report,” USA v. Eric Prokopi, 12-CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. Obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
23. “My concern”: Sentencing transcript, USA v. Eric Prokopi, 12-CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
24. “Everyone averts his eyes” and related: Ibid.
25. “I have to feel”: Judge Hellerstein said, in court, “No one in this business takes things or buys things without looking at the provenance of an item. You are not buying a fake in a store. You are not buying a copy of a piece of art. You are buying something because of its quality as a fossil. Your client was an expert at that. So much so that he had the ability to create an exact replica of a dinosaur from these fossils, and he did [so] to great value.” Sentencing transcript, USA v. Eric Prokopi, 12-CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
26. “in recognition and consideration”: Martin Bell wrote what’s called a “501 letter” to the court, essentially recommending leniency at sentencing. Bell’s comments in court are found in the sentencing transcript.
27. “size up Mr. Prokopi”: Sentencing transcript.
29. “This is a deepening mystery”: Ibid. Of course nobody had the answer. Susan Orlean, in The Orchid Thief, might’ve come close in her assessment of the poacher Laroche: “I never thought very many people in the world were very much like John Laroche, but I realized more and more that he was only an extreme, not an aberration—that most people in some way or another do strive for something exceptional, something to pursue, even at their peril, rather than abide an ordinary life.” Laroche told Orlean, “It’s not really about collecting the thing itself. It’s about getting immersed in something, and learning about it, and having it become part of your life. It’s a kind of direction.”
30. “Mr. Prokopi is an unusual person” and related: Sentencing transcript, 12-CRIM-981, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
31. “Okay, we can deal with this”: Interviews with Amanda Prokopi.
32. “Just a word of prison advice”: Prokopi used his phone to record the monologue and post it to Facebook. Also see “Late Night with Seth Meyers Monologue Highlights—6/4,” June 5, 2014, https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/LATE-NIGHT-WITH-SETH-MEYERS-Monologue-Highlights -64-20140605.
33. “Well, at least you’re famous” and related: Eric Prokopi Facebook page.
CHAPTER 20: TARBOMANIA
1. “You’re in the media”: Interviews with Oyuna Tsedevdamba.
2. “Thank you, dinosaur!”: Ibid.
3. “something of a (literal) black box to voters”: See Julian Dierkes, “Monitoring the Election,” Mongolia Focus, June 27, 2012. Dierkes is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s Institute of Asian Research.