I'm really glad this guy wasn't stealing books. Richard Beard, the former director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, entered a guilty plea on Monday in relation to the theft of a $40 box set of "House" DVDs from a Springfield Target store in August 2008.
Beard's decision to enter a guilty plea came just a day before his trial was scheduled to begin. Judge John Childress ordered Beard to pay a $500 fine, attend psychological counseling, and serve a six-month term of probation, according to an AP report. Prosecutors had "asked for a sentence that included a $500 fine, one year probation and 100 hours of community service," the State Journal-Register adds.
