Man pleads guilty to drunkenly stealing thumb off $4.5 million ancient Chinese statue

A Delaware man has pleaded guilty to stealing the thumb off a $4.5 million ancient Chinese warrior statue while drunkenly partying at a Philadelphia museum.

Michael Rohana, of Bear, nicked the digit from the 2,000-year-old terracotta statue when he snuck into the closed-off exhibit while attending an ugly sweater party at the Franklin Institute in December 2017.

As part of his plea bargain, federal prosecutors dropped the most serious charges against him — theft and concealment of an object of cultural heritage from a museum, which could have put Rohana behind bars for up to 30 years, KWY reported.

He will instead plead guilty to charges of interstate trafficking, which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence and $20,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on April 17.

Rohana was just 24 years old when wandered off from the museum’s after-hours holiday party and went into the roped off exhibit. There he admitted to ripping off the digit from the statue’s left hand and putting it in his pocket.

He also put his arm around the famous “Cavalryman” statue and snapped a selfie with the sculpture, according to charging documents.

Museum staff noticed the thumb was missing Jan. 8, and the FBI traced the missing piece back to Rohana, who told authorities he’d kept the thumb in a desk drawer. 

Chinese authorities fumed over the theft, and in 2018 called the U.S. to deliver “severe punishment” to Rohana.

The statue was one of 10 on loan to the Franklin Institute, from among 8,000 life-size warriors that make up the Terracotta Army. They were built by Chinese Emperor Quin Shi Huang, who died in 210 BCE and believed they’d serve as protection in the afterlife.

The statue was worth $4.5 million — the thumb, about $5,000.

Rohana admitted to the drunken mistake when he initially faced charges in April 2019, however a mistrial was declared after the jury deadlocked, according to the Philly Voice.

Rohana’s attorneys argued that the hefty charges against him were meant for major art thefts and not “youthful vandalism,” according to the paper.

A potential retrial was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.