8 Mono baskets recovered, many more are still missing by staff correspondent - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- NORTH FORK — Eight of the more-than 100 Mono Indian baskets, stolen from the Sierra Mono Museum in North Fork two-and-a-half years ago, have been recently recovered. Madera County Sheriff’s Detective Ray Kern says that Joseph Keith Marsala, 46, of Canyon Country, was arrested in Southern California following a tip that he had some of the missing baskets. Mr. Marsala maintains that he bought the eight baskets from an unknown man. Case reports show that detectives became aware of Mr. Marsala following an offer to trade the baskets for some pottery. While Madera County Sheriff’s retain possession of the recovered baskets as evidence against Mr. Marsala, these priceless artifacts will eventually find their way back to the museum showroom. Because Mr. Marsala pleaded no contest last month to possessing stolen property, his sentence could be reduced to felony probation rather than the three years in prison on each of the eight felony counts he was charged with in connection with the missing artifacts. At the time of the burglary in early August of 1996, unknown persons entered the local museum, taking more than 100 Mono Indian baskets, ranging from large cooking to small, tightly woven containers. One basket was estimated to be more than 300 years old. While museum officials explained that no amount of money could cover the loss of these irreplaceable baskets, they estimated their value at more than $1 million. These Mono baskets, recognized around the world as among the finest, had been loaned or donated to the museum by the Visher, Sherman, Polkenhorn and Carmen families, who had possession of the baskets for years. It was originally believed that these baskets, lucrative on the black market, may have been smuggled out of the United States for sale in London or Tokyo underground artifact markets. Now it is believed that the remainder of these stolen Mono artifacts, valued at thousands of dollars each, are somewhere in Southern California. The baskets are easily identifiable because of their intricate weaving patterns, which have been handed down in Mono families from generation to generation. At the time of the burglary, no alarm was in place. Since the break-in to the main showroom, — the first in 26 years — a burglar alarm has been installed. Anyone with information on the theft or the whereabouts of the baskets can call the Bass Lake substation at 642-3201