What did Blumberg do after release?
In 1996, Blumberg was found to be in violation of his probation due to skipping a meeting with his parole officer. Along with another felon, he was also caught in possession of rare books and vintage door knobs from a house in Des Moines Iowa. Blumberg had been suspected of continuing his book and antique theft, as well as taking up residence in his condemned Ottumwa home before a mysterious fire broke out there and destroyed the house. He surrendered himself to authorities only a year after he had been released from prison for the first time, and a new trial was set for 1997.
After Blumberg turned himself in after violating his parole, he began his second trial for book theft. He was forthright with authorities at the time that he was not interested in cooperating, and was rumored to have been influenced by the notorious militant group, Posse Comitatus. This second trial was conducted in front of 115 first year Drake law students at the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center on Drake University’s campus. The first-year Drake students were studying Blumberg, as the case was historic in its nature. Not only was Blumberg’s collection of books immensely large, the defense of insanity due to bibliomania had never been used in court previously.
Just as in his first trial, Blumberg’s mental state and competency was a matter of debate. He was deemed competent to stand trial after an evaluation by the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota. He was sentenced to eight months in prison in March 1997, and after release was to have no further obligations with the court.
After Blumberg was released for the second time, he again reoffended. In July 2003, Blumberg was caught with an accomplice in a Keokuk, Iowa home in possession of doorknobs during an active burglary. The two were arrested for third degree burglary and the police department recognized Blumberg from his historic first trial in 1990. Police stated that after they ran Blumberg’s criminal history, it was clear that he had not been rehabilitated during his time in prison.
In November 2003, Blumberg pled guilty to third degree burglary and was found guilty by the jury. This offense was considered a Class D felony. He was convicted in 2004 and released later that year. However, he was again found violating his parole leading to another short stint in prison. Since the 2004 parole violation, there has been no other evidence of arrests of or thefts by Blumberg.