Longtime teacher and coach, Joseph Colbert, has been found to be illegally selling Native American-made burial pots and was recently arrested and charged.
Colbert, who’s been the head coach of Triton Track for the last 25 years, is facing both criminal and civil charges. Last Tuesday, authorities were anonymously tipped off about odd looking pots in the boys track locker room. When police arrived on scene, they found 238 Native American-made pots originating from the Wampanoag, Nipmuc, Penobscot, and Abenaki tribes. Along with the pots was a spreadsheet of various business inquiries suggesting that Colbert was selling the pots on the streets of Newburyport. A warrant for Colbert’s arrest was put out and he was arrested by local authorities immediately. He is now being held at Northeastern Correctional Center in Concord, MA, and is expected to face a jury soon. Colbert is facing charges that could land him a $1,000,000 fine and five years in prison.
A statement regarding the situation was released by the Newburyport police department this morning stating, “We now have the offender in custody and have seized the pots found in his locker room.” They then went on to explain that, “We have reason to believe that his son, Tyler Colbert, was working with his father to sell the pots. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts please contact the police as he is expected to be armed and dangerous.’’ His son, Tyler Colbert, is an assistant coach for the track team, he has been missing since his father’s arrest on Tuesday and is most likely on the run.
