Charges Against Blumberg

What were Blumberg's charges?

Blumberg was arrested and charged with interstate transport of stolen property. He had violated several laws including Title 18, United States Code 2 and Title 18, United States Code 2315.

Title 18, United States Code 2 has two parts: “(a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as principal; (b) Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal” (18 U.S. Code § 2 - Principals).

Title 18, United States Code 2315 pertains to crimes and criminal procedure and details that “Whoever receives, possesses, conceals, stores, barters, sells, or disposes of any goods, wares, or merchandise, securities, or moneys  of the value of $5,000 or more” and “Whoever receives in interstate or foreign commerce, or conceals, stores, barters, sells, or disposes of, any tool, implement, or thing used or intended to be used in falsely making, forging, altering, or counterfeiting any security or tax stamp, or any part thereof, moving as, or which is a part of, or which constitutes interstate or foreign commerce” (US Code Title 18 Section 2315) will be imprisonable for up to 10 years.

At the time, there were no laws pertaining to bibliomania or stolen books and rare materials. However, there were general laws that cited punishment for if someone had committed offenses against the United States, stolen a vast number of goods, and transported the respective stolen goods across state boundaries. Hence, these were the laws that Blumberg was convicted of breaking.