## Facts

- Forest Service officers and archaeologists observed Kyle R. Jones, Thayde L. Jones, and Robert E. Gevara digging in prehistoric Indian ruins on federal land in the Tonto National Forest.
- Defendants were arrested after allegedly excavating the ruins and removing items including clay pots, bone awls, stone metates, and human skeletal remains.
- A grand jury indicted defendants on two counts:
  - Theft of government property, alleging theft of artifacts and human remains valued over $100, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 641 and 2.
  - Injury to government property, alleging damage to the ruins over $100 using a pick and shovel, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1361 and 2.
- Defendants moved to dismiss, arguing the Antiquities Act of 1906, 16 U.S.C. § 433, was the exclusive statute for this conduct.
- The district court dismissed the indictment, reasoning that because the Ninth Circuit had held § 433’s penal provision unconstitutionally vague, no statute remained to prosecute the alleged conduct.

## Issues

1. Whether Congress intended 16 U.S.C. § 433 to be the exclusive criminal statute for excavation, removal, or damage involving ruins and antiquities on federal land, thereby barring prosecution under 18 U.S.C. §§ 641 and 1361.
2. Whether the invalidity of § 433’s penal provision prevents the government from prosecuting the same conduct under generally applicable federal property crimes.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of the indictment.
- The court held that the Antiquities Act was not the exclusive means of prosecuting theft of, or damage to, archaeological resources on federal land.
- The government could proceed under 18 U.S.C. §§ 641 and 1361 even though § 433’s penal provision had been held unconstitutionally vague.

## Legal Principles

- A specific criminal statute does not displace generally applicable criminal statutes absent a clear indication of congressional intent to make the specific statute exclusive.
- Overlapping criminal statutes may coexist and apply to the same conduct; prosecutorial selection among them is permitted when each statute’s text covers the conduct.
- The constitutional invalidity of one statute’s penal provision does not bar prosecution under other valid statutes that independently reach the charged theft or property damage.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit permitted prosecution for theft of artifacts and damage to ruins on federal land under 18 U.S.C. §§ 641 and 1361, rejecting the view that the Antiquities Act was an exclusive charging scheme and holding that § 433’s vagueness did not create a gap in federal criminal enforcement.


United States v. Jones, 607 F.2d 269 (9th Cir. 1979)