Archeologist Sentenced in Museum Embezzlement Case

LOS ANGELES —  An archeologist was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and three years’ probation Monday after pleading no contest to embezzling $5,000 from the county Museum of Natural History through doctored travel receipts.

Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta also fined Adam Kessler $210. The 41-year-old specialist in Chinese language and culture previously paid the museum $5,000 in restitution.

Kessler, who was fired by the museum, was charged with one felony count of grand theft for allegedly falsifying or altering receipts from trips to China to develop an exhibit. The receipts were for items including jewelry, swimsuits and sweaters that he said were business-related expenses. He also was accused of falsifying receipts for expenses he never incurred.

Kessler’s actions came to the attention of the museum after it hired a new accountant, fluent in Chinese, who reviewed the archeologist’s expense reports for two trips to China.

“I feel bad for this guy,” said John Martin, Kessler’s attorney. “It isn’t the crime of the century that some people are making it out to be.”