Trial to begin for man charged with stealing gold bar
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A trial is set to begin for one of two men accused in the 2010 theft of a Key West museum's 17th-century gold bar.
Jury selection starts Tuesday morning in the case against Jarred Alexander Goldman of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He faces a federal charge of conspiracy and theft of a major artwork.
Authorities say Goldman and Steven Johnson of Rio Linda, California, took a 74.85-ounce bar valued at $556,000 from the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. Court documents allege Goldman stood guard while Johnson stole the bar from its display case.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Johnson pleaded guilty in late April and is cooperating with authorities while awaiting sentencing.
The gold bar was excavated in 1980 from a 1622 Spanish galleon wrecksite off the Florida Keys.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Online: Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, http://www.melfisher.org