The largest cultural property case ever investigated by the FBI’s Art Crime Team has been acknowledged by the Archaeological Institute of America with its 2025 Outstanding Public Service Award. Argus CPC founder and managing director Tim Carpenter led the FBI’s recovery of over 7,000 items from the rural Indiana property of Don Miller, who spent seven decades illegally looting and collecting artifacts around the world including human remains.
During the investigation, Tim worked closely with Dr. Holly Cusack-McVeigh (Associate Professor of Anthropology and Museum Studies, Indiana University Indianapolis), her students, and Native American tribes to ensure the respectful identification and return of human remains/ancestors to their communities. They also labored to identify, catalog, and repatriate thousands of artifacts and other cultural objects to nearly 30 countries. The award recognizes the close collaboration among law enforcement, academics, cultural institutions and foreign governments that was required to bring this investigation to its successful conclusion.
The award was formally presented on January 4 at the 2025 AIA Awards Ceremony in Philadelphia, PA. The award was accepted on behalf of the FBI Art Crime Team by Special Agent Jake Archer.
Here is the original press release from the Archaeological Institute of America:
The Archaeological Institute of America is pleased to present the 2025 Outstanding Public Service Award to the FBI’s Art Crime Team and Dr. Holly Cusack-McVeigh (Associate Professor of Anthropology and Museum Studies, Indiana University Indianapolis) and her students.
The AIA recognizes the decade-long collaboration of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, Prof. Cusack-McVeigh, and her students on an investigation into the collections of Don Miller of Indiana and the repatriation of human remains and objects in the United States and abroad. This represents an exemplary collaboration between a federal agency and US academia, as well as engagement and training of students in the context of an investigation.
The award recognizes this unique collaborative effort’s extraordinary accomplishments in working with Native communities, foreign governments, agencies, and cultural institutions to repatriate human remains and cultural property recovered during an investigation into the collections of Don Miller of Indiana, who admitted to illegally or improperly acquiring significant parts of his massive antiquities collection. Prior to his passing in 2015, Miller cooperated with authorities, and he agreed to relinquish items he had acquired in violation of state and federal law as well as other international regulations or agreements.
At the time of the FBI seizure, Miller’s collection amounted to 42,000 objects. Approximately 7,000 of those items were seized or relinquished as a result of being in violation of state, federal, or international regulations or agreements. More than 2,000 human bones from some 500 persons were also seized and returned or are in the process of repatriation. Objects related to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) have also been repatriated to communities of origin or transferred to cultural institutions (with the agreement of the respective tribes) to complete the required processes for return. Furthermore, working with a range of expert partners and foreign governments or communities, the team completed international repatriations to Canada, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Spain, and Haiti.
The case has now been officially closed, and the repatriations are either complete or in process. The AIA recognizes that this is a timely moment for celebrating the team’s extraordinary efforts in this historical case of illicit antiquities investigation, repatriation, and establishment of heritage justice and applauds the efforts of all those involved.