PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The day an agent from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stuck her foot in the doorway of his home and insisted she was coming in, Phillip Pirages knew the news wasn’t good.

His wife answered the door and called him in tears: The Italian government had identified three 13th-century choral music manuscripts Pirages was selling online as stolen, and the U.S. government was there to reclaim them.

After several unpleasant conversations, the Oregon book dealer was convinced that the manuscripts he had purchased in Europe and Ohio were stolen from Italian monasteries and churches between 1975 and 2008.

“I was very impressed with how serious the (Italian) government was about reclaiming these,” Pirages said.

Pirages said he had no inkling that the pages were stolen when he bought them.

“Often times these things are acquired as groups of things,” Pirages said. “Not in every case, but I bought a dozen leaves for a certain amount of money and, what are you going to do?”

Federal officials say he cooperated fully with the investigation by U.S. and Italian officials and won’t be charged.

“Once we established that they were stolen, he voluntarily agreed to surrender them,” said ICE special agent Melissa Cooley. “He didn’t fight the forfeiture.”

The pages were among seven antiquities turned over to the Italian government Thursday in Washington. They came from several separate investigations.

Pirages had been asking about $15,000 for the pages and says they were insured. Such pages for church choirs feature lavish illustrations and artwork.

He still speaks with some relish about the manuscripts.

“They’re beautiful, and they old,” Pirages said about his decision to buy them. “And they’re musical. And as a result of all those things, they’re salable.

“It was a no-brainer until what happened happened.”

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