By Roger Lanse

Michael Quarrel, 81, of Deming, pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Cruces on Friday, Jan. 15, to violating the Archaeological Resource Protection Act.

According to a Department of Justice press release, Quarrel admitted to removing several pieces of broken Mimbres pottery from the Indian Wells site on federal land in Luna County on Sept. 30, 2013.

Under terms of the plea agreement, the release said, Quarrel will be sentenced to two years of probation, required to pay $4,250 in restitution, and will be banned from BLM lands for two years. A sentencing hearing for Quarrel has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces Office of the BLM and the Luna County Sheriff's Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna R. Wright of the U.S. Attorney's Las Cruces Branch Office.