Farmer gets 15 years in prison for intending to sell bronze wares unearthed in his backyard

                           

A man surnamed Zhao and his brother in Xi'an dug up eight pieces of bronze wares of thelate Shang and early Zhou Dynasty in their backyard, and attempted to sell them. In April,Zhao was sentenced 15 years in prison. Lately, the Supreme Court of Shaanxi provincerejected Zhao's appeal.

Zhao, 52, is a farmer in Chang'an District in Xi'an. In July 2014, when Zhao and hisbrother, who is now on the run, dug up tree roots at their backyard, they found an ancienttomb and dug up eight pieces of valuable bronze wares.

Later the two brothers decided to sell these bronze wares privately. A secret buyer offeredthem 1 million yuan, but Zhao declined the offer because he planned to sell them for atleast 1.5 million yuan. On Aug. 6, 2014, police arrested Zhao at his home and found theeight pieces of bronze wares hidden in his home.

Experts confirmed that four pieces of bronze wares are national second-grade culturalrelics, and the other four pieces are national third-grade cultural relics. The tomb isconfirmed to of the late Shang Dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty, and the area belongs tothe Fenggao Heritage Conservation area.

In April 2015, Zhao was sentenced 15 years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan.