A 37-year-old St. George man whose childhood curiosity turned into an obsession has been sent to prison for 10 months for damaging and taking stone artifacts.

John C. Hunter said he first began searching for arrowheads on his parents' property in Malibu, Calif. The fascination grew, however, and he ultimately was arrested for looting a prehistoric village in Big Round Valley and a rock shelter in the Santa Clara River Gorge, both in Washington County."My intention was to find some neat Indian artifacts," Hunter said during his sentencing in U.S. District Court on Friday. "I did not at all realize the seriousness of it. I am truly sorry . . . that I disturbed something that wasn't mine."

Hunter apologized to American Indians "living and dead" for disturbing sites "just so I could possess one of their artifacts."

Hunter pleaded guilty to violating federal archaeological resource laws and damaging government property. The village is on Bureau of Land Management property, and the shelter is in the Dixie National Forest.

He surrendered all of his collection, even items he had legally gathered from his family's private property.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Dance had argued for a stiffer sentence, saying that U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins should take into account the damage done to the sites.

"He's not a casual archaeological resource looter. It's been his lifelong avocation," Dance said.

Hunter was convicted in the mid-1980s of trespassing at a Chumash Indian burial site in California, Dance said.

The indictments against Hunter alleged he looted the shelter in 1995 and the village in 1993. About 15 arrowheads and a partial spear point possessed by Hunter likely came from the sites, testified U.S. Forest Service investigator David Griffel.

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Defense attorney Richard Mauro contended Hunter and his friends acted on the "spur of the moment." He discounted testimony that Hunter provided the equipment, led the other men to the sites, and planned to do their digging and sifting at night by candlelight to avoid detection.

Jenkins agreed and refused to enhance Hunter's sentence for being a leader. He also dramatically reduced the value of the archaeological damage caused by Hunter, allotting $2,000 for "aesthetics" instead of the $34,238 sought by Dance. Those calculations brought Hunter's sentencing range down to eight to 14 months.

The judge ordered Hunter to serve three years on probation when his 10-month sentence is completed. He also must repay the $9,661 in restoration costs.

Three men were indicted for accompanying Hunter to the sites and helping him search. Kelby T. Chadburn, 29, of St. George, was sentenced to serve eight months in prison; two others are awaiting sentencing.

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