Former C.W. Post official sentenced for stealing art

The former director of a museum at Long Island University's C.W. Post Campus was sentenced Friday to a year and a day in prison for stealing nine Egyptian artifacts from the museum and selling them through Christie's auction house.

Barry Stern, 62, of Oyster Bay, said in federal court in Central Islip that he was "deeply embarrassed" by his actions and that he "profoundly regretted the pain it has caused others." He said he was "deeply remorseful" for the episode.

His attorney, Mark Baker, asked that Stern not be given jail time, noting his otherwise exemplary life. He said Stern had been the director at the Hillwood Art Museum, on the university's Brookville campus, for 15 years without incident.

But Assistant U.S. attorney Richard Donoghue said a jail term was appropriate. The stolen artifacts, he said, were "crafted by artisans 2,000 years ago to inspire awe and open minds and not to fatten Mr. Stern's bank account."

In a written statement to the court, university president David Steinberg asked U.S. District Judge Denis Hurley to give Stern the maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.

"Every university has a sacred covenant with its students, one that has been broken by Mr. Stern," Steinberg wrote in his statement, adding, "It is the students of LIU who are the real victims of this theft."

Stern admitted taking the artifacts. Christie's sold eight of them for a total of more than $43,000, according to court papers.

Those figurines were returned to the university. Stern repaid Christie's after his arrest.

The ninth artifact was sold by Christie's to a collector in Germany, who refused to return it - and was not obligated to under German law.

Stern repaid LIU the value of that statue, which was $6,500. He also paid an additional $24,000 so the museum could conduct an inventory of its collection to determine if any other pieces were missing.

Stern said in court he wasn't trying to make money on the deal, but was trying to get even with LIU over his dismissal.Stern was caught when Christie's faxed an offer on one of the pieces to him at the Hillwood museum and a colleague realized it was an artifact from the museum collection.

In addition to his prison sentence, Stern was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and was given 3 years' probation. He also was ordered to attend classes in anger management.

With John Valenti