A former Maryland police sergeant has been charged with stealing Civil War documents from his father-in-law, a descendant of a personal staff member of Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
Charging documents in federal court say Richard Malcolm took about a fourth of his father-in-law's Civil War documents, appraised at $500,000 in 2012. The court records, obtained Thursday, say Malcolm tried to sell the stolen documents to a collector in White Plains, New York, for $125,000.
Charging documents say the suspicious collector contacted an archives company, which later called Malcolm's father-in-law.
Malcolm is charged with interstate transportation of stolen property and attempted wire fraud. His attorney didn't return a call for comment on the charges.
Malcolm, a 20-year veteran of the Howard County Police Department, resigned Tuesday.