Prosecutor may charge suspect as persistent offender

Prosecutors may charge convicted documents thief Robert Hardin Smith as a persistent offender for his latest crime -- the theft of six William Faulkner letters from Southeast Missouri State University valued at $25,000.

The move could put Smith behind bars in Missouri for up to 20 years, said Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney.

But first, law enforcement officers have to find the 43-year-old Jacksonville, Ark., man who once practiced law as a public defender in that state.

Swingle is confident that Smith will be found. The Pulaski County Sheriff's Department in Arkansas has been so busy investigating a murder it hasn't had time to look for Smith, he said.

But Swingle believes it's only a matter of time until Smith is arrested. "This does not strike me as a person who will be difficult to find," the prosecutor said.

Charged on Tuesday with felony stealing, Smith is accused of stealing the letters from the rare book room at the university's Kent Library on Sept. 30. The university archivist identified Smith from a photograph.

Swingle said Smith subsequently sold the letters to Noble Enterprises, a manuscript dealer in Rowlett, Texas.

The stealing charge carries a maximum punishment of seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

But Swingle said Thursday that Smith could get more jail time if he is found to be a persistent offender with at least two previous felony convictions.

Smith surrendered his law license in 1993 after being charged with forgery and writing insufficient funds checks, news reports show. He was convicted in 1994 of felony theft of property in connection with the forgery, and was placed on probation.

He was convicted of stealing historic manuscripts from the University of Kansas and the University of Arkansas libraries in 1996. He served nearly two years in prison in Arkansas before being paroled on March 22, 1999, Arkansas corrections officials said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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