A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Subsequently, OKeefe left his carand the $200,000in a garage on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston. (Following pleas of guilty in November 1956, Fat John received a two-year sentence, and the other two men were sentenced to serve one years imprisonment. Then the lock cylinders were replaced. The eight men were sentenced by Judge Forte on October 9, 1956. His case had gone to the highest court in the land. Chicago police said at about 3 p.m., a 38-year-old male armored truck . As of January 1956, more than $2,775,000, including $1,218,211.29 in cash was still unaccounted for. Minutes later, police arrived at the Brinks building, and special agents of the FBI quickly joined in the investigation. Shakur, the stepfather of hip-hop star . Although he had been known to carry a gun, burglaryrather than armed robberywas his criminal specialty, and his exceptional driving skill was an invaluable asset during criminal getaways. Yet, it only amounted to a near perfect crime. The Brinks Job, 1950. Shortly after 6.40am, six armed robbers in balaclavas entered a warehouse at Heathrow airport belonging to security company Brink's-Mat. The FBIs jurisdiction to investigate this robbery was based upon the fact that cash, checks, postal notes, and United States money orders of the Federal Reserve Bank and the Veterans Administration district office in Boston were included in the loot. In the end, the perfect crime had a perfect endingfor everyone but the robbers. Brian Robinson was arrested in December 1983 after Stephen Black - the security guard who let the robbers into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, and Robinson's brother-in-law - named him to police. They put the entire $200,000 in the trunk of OKeefes automobile. (Costa, who was at his lookout post, previously had arrived in a Ford sedan which the gang had stolen from behind the Boston Symphony Hall two days earlier.). Geagan claimed that he spent the evening at home and did not learn of the Brinks robbery until the following day. When OKeefe admitted his part in the Brinks robbery to FBI agents in January 1956, he told of his high regard for Gusciora. Again, he was determined to fight, using the argument that his conviction for the 1948 larceny offense was not a basis for deportation. BY The Associated Press. As a protective measure, he was incarcerated in the Hampden County jail at Springfield, Massachusetts, rather than the Suffolk County jail in Boston. Since Brinks was located in a heavily populated tenement section, many hours were consumed in interviews to locate persons in the neighborhood who might possess information of possible value. Pino previously had arranged for this man to keep his shop open beyond the normal closing time on nights when Pino requested him to do so. Underworld figures in Boston have generally speculated that the racketeer was killed because of his association with OKeefe. Almost. A few years before the Brink's-Mat robbery . Pino would take the locks to the mans shop, and keys would be made for them. Unfortunately, this proved to be an idle hope. All of them wore Navy-type peacoats, gloves, and chauffeurs caps. An inside man by the name of Anthony . The most important of these, Specs OKeefe, carefully recited the details of the crime, clearly spelling out the role played by each of the eight defendants. If local hoodlums were involved, it was difficult to believe that McGinnis could be as ignorant of the crime as he claimed. The families of OKeefe and Gusciora resided in the vicinity of Stoughton, Massachusetts. Later, when he counted the money, he found that the suitcase contained $98,000. The BBC has greenlit a documentary telling the real story of the 26M ($31.2M) Brink's-Mat robbery spotlighted in Neil Forsyth drama The Gold. A gang of 11 men set out on a meticulous 18-month quest to rob the Brinks headquarters in Boston, the home-base of the legendary private security firm. One Massachusetts racketeer, a man whose moral code mirrored his long years in the underworld, confided to the agents who were interviewing him, If I knew who pulled the job, I wouldnt be talking to you now because Id be too busy trying to figure a way to lay my hands on some of the loot.. Pino had been at his home in the Roxbury Section of Boston until approximately 7:00 p.m.; then he walked to the nearby liquor store of Joseph McGinnis. In the years following the infamous 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, many of the criminals and police alike were killed, leading to speculation there might be . Due to unsatisfactory conduct, drunkenness, refusal to seek employment, and association with known criminals, his parole was revoked, and he was returned to the Massachusetts State Prison. The other gang members would not talk. Stanley Gusciora (pictured left), who had been transferred to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania to stand trial, was placed under medical care due to weakness, dizziness, and vomiting. And it nearly was. The defense immediately filed motions which would delay or prevent the trial. He was not with the gang when the robbery took place. The Great Brinks Robbery of 1950 met all of these requirementsa great pile of cash disappeared with no evidence, leads, or suspects. The wall partition described by the Boston criminal was located in Fat Johns office, and when the partition was removed, a picnic-type cooler was found. In addition, McGinnis received other sentences of two years, two and one-half to three years, and eight to ten years. On October 11, 1950, Gusciora was sentenced to serve from five to 20 years in the Western Pennsylvania Penitentiary at Pittsburgh. The names of Pino, McGinnis, Adolph Jazz Maffie, and Henry Baker were frequently mentioned in these rumors, and it was said that they had been with OKeefe on the Big Job.. This cooler contained more than $57,700, including $51,906 which was identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. Banfield had been a close associate of McGinnis for many years. More than $7 million was stolen in a brazen holdup at a Brink's armored car service in Rochester in 1993. Apparently, they had planned a leisurely trip with an abundance of extracurricular activities.. From Boston, the pressure quickly spread to other cities. A detailed search for additional weapons was made at the Mystic River. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. When the pieces of the 1949 green Ford stake-body truck were found at the dump in Stoughton on March 4, 1950, additional emphasis was placed on the investigations concerning them. Following the federal grand jury hearings, the FBIs intense investigation continued. In the late summer of 1944, he was released from the state prison and was taken into custody by Immigration authorities. On April 11, 1955, the Supreme Court ruled that Pinos conviction in 1948 for larceny (the sentence that was revoked and the case placed on file) had not attained such finality as to support an order of deportation. Thus, Pino could not be deported. OKeefe did not know where the gang members had hidden their shares of the lootor where they had disposed of the money if, in fact, they had disposed of their shares. Even fearing the new bills might be linked with the crime, McGinnis suggested a process for aging the new money in a hurry.. What Happened To The Brinks Mat Robbery? Nonetheless, the finding of the truck parts at Stoughton, Massachusetts, was to prove a valuable break in the investigation. It was positively concluded that the packages of currency had been damaged prior to the time they were wrapped in the pieces of newspaper; and there were indications that the bills previously had been in a canvas container which was buried in ground consisting of sand and ashes. In 1936 and 1937, Faherty was convicted of armed robbery violations. Shortly before 7:30 p.m., they were surprised by five menheavily disguised, quiet as mice, wearing gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints and soft shoes to muffle noise. One of these officers quickly grabbed the criminals hand, and a large roll of money fell from it. On November 26, 1982, six armed robbers forced their way into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, the plan was to steal the 3.2m in cash they were expecting to find stored there. At 4:20 p.m. on January 6, 1956, OKeefe made the final decision. Pino admitted having been in the area, claiming that he was looking for a parking place so that he could visit a relative in the hospital. Several hundred dollars were found hidden in the house but could not be identified as part of the loot. I think a fellow just passed a counterfeit $10.00 bill on me, he told the officer. The other gun was picked up by the officer and identified as having been taken during the Brinks robbery. The alibi, in fact, was almost too good. Extensive efforts were made to detect pencil markings and other notations on the currency that the criminals thought might be traceable to Brinks. He needed money for his defense against the charges in McKean County, and it was obvious that he had developed a bitter attitude toward a number of his close underworld associates. None of these materialized because the gang did not consider the conditions to be favorable. Democrat and Chronicle. He subsequently was convicted and executed.). If passing police had looked closer early that Saturday morning on November 26, 1983, they would have noticed the van was weighted down below its wheel arches with three tons of gold. LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- The FBI and the Los Angeles County. They were held in lieu of bail which, for each man, amounted to more then $100,000. Questioned by Boston police on the day following the robbery, Baker claimed that he had eaten dinner with his family on the evening of January 17, 1950, and then left home at about 7:00 p.m. to walk around the neighborhood for about two hours. While some gang members remained in the building to ensure that no one detected the operation, other members quickly obtained keys to fit the locks. While the officer and amusement arcade operator were talking to him, the hoodlum reached into his pocket, quickly withdrew his hand again and covered his hand with a raincoat he was carrying. The group were led by Mickey McAdams and Brian Robinson who planned to find 3 million in cash. An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. Their hands were tied behind their backs and adhesive tape was placed over their mouths. The robbers carefully planned routine inside Brinks was interrupted only when the attendant in the adjoining Brinks garage sounded the buzzer. Armed crooks wearing Halloween masks and chauffeur . A federal search warrant was obtained, and the home was searched by agents on April 27, 1950. The amusement arcade operator told the officer that he had followed the man who passed this $10.00 bill to a nearby tavern. On the evening of January 17, 1950, employees of the security firm Brinks, Inc., in Boston, Massachusetts, were closing for the day, returning sacks of undelivered cash, checks, and other material to the company safe on the second floor. The other keys in their possession enabled them to proceed to the second floor where they took the five Brinks employees by surprise. This lead was pursued intensively. The robbers did little talking. Then, there was the fact that so much dead wood was includedMcGinnis, Banfield, Costa, and Pino were not in the building when the robbery took place. An acetylene torch had been used to cut up the truck, and it appeared that a sledge hammer also had been used to smash many of the heavy parts, such as the motor. Even after these convictions, OKeefe and Gusciora continued to seek their release. Even Pino, whose deportation troubles then were a heavy burden, was arrested by the Boston police in August 1954. Within minutes, theyd stolen more than $1.2 million in cash and another $1.5 million in checks and other securities, making it the largest robbery in the U.S. at the time. But according to the ruling filed in B.C., Brinks paid the money back immediately after the victim bank notified the company that a robbery had occurred making use of "keys, access codes and . OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. Inside this container were packages of bills that had been wrapped in plastic and newspapers. The trial of these eight men began on the morning of August 6, 1956, before Judge Feliz Forte in the Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston. The alibi was strong, but not conclusive. Paul Jawarski (sometimes spelled Jaworski) in a yellowed newspaper . It was almost the perfect crime. However, by delving into the criminal world, Edwyn. It appeared to him that he would spend his remaining days in prison while his co-conspirators would have many years to enjoy the luxuries of life. After receiving the go ahead signal from Costa, the seven armed men walked to the Prince Street entrance of Brinks. On the afternoon of August 28, 1954, Trigger Burke escaped from the Suffolk County jail in Boston, where he was being held on the gun-possession charge arising from the June 16 shooting of OKeefe. Until the FBI and its partners painstakingly solved the case. On November, 26, 1983, three tonnes of solid gold bullion was taken by six armed robbers from the Brink's-Mat security depot near . Two of the participants in the Brinks robbery lived in the Stoughton area. The Great Brink's Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brink's building in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1950. Both denied knowledge of the loot that had been recovered. During his brief stay in Boston, he was observed to contact other members of the robbery gang. The roofs of buildings on Prince and Snow Hill Streets soon were alive with inconspicuous activity as the gang looked for the most advantageous sites from which to observe what transpired inside Brinks offices. Captain Marvel mask used as a disguise in the robbery. To his neighbors in Jackson Heights in the early 1990s, Sam . McGinnis had been arrested at the site of a still in New Hampshire in February 1954. He, too, had left his home shortly before 7:00 p.m. on the night of the robbery and met the Boston police officer soon thereafter. Some of the bills were in pieces. Photo courtesy Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. After nearly three years of investigation, the government hoped that witnesses or participants who had remained mute for so long a period of time might find their tongues before the grand jury. If Baker heard these rumors, he did not wait around very long to see whether they were true. A number of them discontinued their operations; others indicated a strong desire that the robbers be identified and apprehended. An official website of the United States government. OKeefe and Gusciora reportedly had worked together on a number of occasions. At 10:25 p.m. on October 5, 1956, the jury retired to weigh the evidence. Many tips were received from anonymous persons. Between 1950 and 1954, the underworld occasionally rumbled with rumors that pressure was being exerted upon Boston hoodlums to contribute money for these criminals legal fight against the charges in Pennsylvania. Adding to these problems was the constant pressure being exerted upon Pino by OKeefe from the county jail in Towanda, Pennsylvania. He was so cold and persistent in these dealings with his co-conspirators that the agents hoped he might be attempting to obtain a large sum of moneyperhaps his share of the Brinks loot. This chauffeurs cap was left at the scene of the crime of the centurythe 1950 robbery of a Brink's bank branch in Massachusetts. There were the rope and adhesive tape used to bind and gag the employees and a chauffeurs cap that one of the robbers had left at the crime scene. Three years later, Great Train Robber. That same afternoon (following the admission that Fat John had produced the money and had described it as proceeds from the Brinks robbery), a search warrant was executed in Boston covering the Tremont Street offices occupied by the three men. They moved with a studied precision which suggested that the crime had been carefully planned and rehearsed in the preceding months. From interviews with the five employees whom the criminals had confronted, it was learned that between five and seven robbers had entered the building. Two days after Christmas of 1955, FBI agents paid another visit to OKeefe. With the death of Gusciora, only eight members of the Brinks gang remained to be tried. He told the interviewing agents that he trusted Maffie so implicitly that he gave the money to him for safe keeping. After dousing security guards with petrol and threatening them with a lit match if they didn't open the safes, the six men made an amazing discovery when they stumbled upon 3,000kg worth of gold bars. In a series of interviews during the succeeding days, OKeefe related the full story of the Brinks robbery. On March 4, 1950, pieces of an identical truck were found at a dump in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Inside the building, the gang members carefully studied all available information concerning Brinks schedules and shipments. Shortly thereafterduring the first week of Novembera 1949 green Ford stake-body truck was reported missing by a car dealer in Boston. Neither had too convincing an alibi. Serious consideration originally had been given to robbing Brinks in 1947, when Brinks was located on Federal Street in Boston. Five bullets which had missed their mark were found in a building nearby. They stole 26 million in gold bullion - the biggest robbery of . This phase of the investigation was pursued exhaustively. OKeefe had no place to keep so large a sum of money. The Bureau was convinced that it had identified the actual robbers, but evidence and witnesses had to be found. 26 million (equivalent to 93.3 million in 2021 [1]) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was stolen from a warehouse operated by Brink's-Mat, a former joint . During this operation, one of the employees had lost his glasses; they later could not be found on the Brinks premises. Born in Italy in 1907, Pino was a young child when he entered the United States, but he never became a naturalized citizen. Jewelers report over $100 million in losses after Brinks armored truck robbed in California. OKeefe paid his respects to other members of the Brinks gang in Boston on several occasions in the spring of 1954, and it was obvious to the agents handling the investigation that he was trying to solicit money. Neither Pino nor McGinnis was known to be the type of hoodlum who would undertake so potentially dangerous a crime without the best strong-arm support available. There are still suspicions among some readers that the late Tom O'Connor, a retired cop who worked Brinks security during the robbery, was a key player, despite his acquittal on robbery charges at . The gang members who remained at the house of Maffies parents soon dispersed to establish alibis for themselves. His explanation: He had been drinking at a bar in Boston. "A search warrant was executed in Boston covering the Tremont Street offices occupied by the three men" (FBI). Fat John and the business associate of the man arrested in Baltimore were located and interviewed on the morning of June 4, 1956. He received a one-year sentence for this offense; however, on January 30, 1950, the sentence was revoked and the case was placed on file.. The last false approach took place on January 16, 1950the night before the robbery. Six members of the gangBaker, Costa, Geagan, Maffie, McGinnis, and Pinowere arrested by FBI agents on January 12, 1956. Years earlier, a private investigator, Daniel Morgan, was said to have been looking into the robbery. Two other Baltimore police officers who were walking along the street nearby noted this maneuver. Many problems and dangers were involved in such a robbery, and the plans never crystallized. Much of the money taken from the money changer appeared to have been stored a long time. Continuous investigation, however, had linked him with the gang. Banfield drove the truck to the house of Maffies parents in Roxbury. There were recurring rumors that this hoodlum, Joseph Sylvester Banfield (pictured), had been right down there on the night of the crime. A new BBC crime drama series follows the gripping twists and turns of what was dubbed the "crime of the century" in the 1980s. Pino, Richardson, and Costa each took $20,000, and this was noted on a score sheet. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. As the robbers sped from the scene, a Brinks employee telephoned the Boston Police Department. They were checked against serial numbers of bills known to have been included in the Brinks loot, and it was determined that the Boston criminal possessed part of the money that had been dragged away by the seven masked gunmen on January 17, 1950. Ten of the persons who appeared before this grand jury breathed much more easily when they learned that no indictments had been returned. Two died before they were tried. Each man also was given a pistol and a Halloween-type mask. Fat John announced that each of the packages contained $5,000. Before the robbery was carried out, all of the participants were well acquainted with the Brinks premises. In addition to mold, insect remains also were found on the loot. Three of the remaining five gang members were previously accounted for, OKeefe and Gusciora being in prison on other charges and Banfield being dead. To muffle their footsteps, one of the gang wore crepe-soled shoes, and the others wore rubbers. Due to his criminal record, the Immigration and Naturalization Service instituted proceedings in 1941 to deport him. On June 19, 1958, while out on appeal in connection with a five-year narcotics sentence, he was found shot to death in an automobile that had crashed into a truck in Boston.). He later was to be arrested as a member of the robbery gang. The robbers removed the adhesive tape from the mouth of one employee and learned that the buzzer signified that someone wanted to enter the vault area. During these approaches, Costaequipped with a flashlight for signaling the other men was stationed on the roof of a tenement building on Prince Street overlooking Brinks. As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. Allegedly, he pulled a gun on OKeefe; several shots were exchanged by the two men, but none of the bullets found their mark. After a period of hostility, he began to display a friendly attitude. This man claimed to have no knowledge of Pinos involvement in the Brinks robbery.). On June 12, 1950, they were arrested at Towanda, Pennsylvania, and guns and clothing that were the loot from burglaries at Kane and Coudersport, Pennsylvania, were found in their possession. In a film-style series of events, criminals broke into the. Each of these leads was checked out. Of the hundreds of New England hoodlums contacted by FBI agents in the weeks immediately following the robbery, few were willing to be interviewed. Well-known Boston hoodlums were picked up and questioned by police. At the time of the Brinks robbery, Geagan was on parole, having been released from prison in July 1943, after serving eight years of a lengthy sentence for armed robbery and assault. The discovery of this money in the Tremont Street offices resulted in the arrests of both Fat John and the business associate of the criminal who had been arrested in Baltimore. The robbery of 26m of gold bars from a warehouse near Heathrow airport is one of Britain's most notorious - and biggest - heists. Police recovered only $58,000 of the $2.7 million stolen. In examining the bill, a Federal Reserve note, the officer observed that it was in musty condition. A man of modest means in Bayonne, New Jersey, was reported to be spending large sums of money in night clubs, buying new automobiles, and otherwise exhibiting newly found wealth. The Brinks case was front page news. On August 30, he was taken into custody as a suspicious person. A systematic check of current and past Brinks employees was undertaken; personnel of the three-story building housing the Brinks offices were questioned; inquiries were made concerning salesmen, messengers, and others who had called at Brinks and might know its physical layout as well as its operational procedures. Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life. . Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to . The truck pieces were concealed in fiber bags when found. As the truck sped away with nine members of the gangand Costa departed in the stolen Ford sedanthe Brinks employees worked themselves free and reported the crime. In addition, although violent dissension had developed within the gang, there still was no indication that any of the men were ready to talk. Based on the available information, however, the FBI felt that OKeefes disgust was reaching the point where it was possible he would turn against his confederates. At the time of his arrest, there also was a charge of armed robbery outstanding against him in Massachusetts. During November and December 1949, the approach to the Brinks building and the flight over the getaway route were practiced to perfection. CHICAGO (CBS) - A woman has been charged after more than $100,000 was stolen from Brinks truck outside Edgewater bank on Monday afternoon. Pino was known in the underworld as an excellent case man, and it was said that the casing of the Brinks offices bore his trademark.. (On January 18, 1956, OKeefe had pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of Brinks.) A few months prior to the robbery, OKeefe and Gusciora surreptitiously entered the premises of a protective alarm company in Boston and obtained a copy of the protective plans for the Brinks building. The door opened, and an armed masked man wearing a prison guard-type uniform commanded the guard, Back up, or Ill blow your brains out. Burke and the armed man disappeared through the door and fled in an automobile parked nearby. Prominent among the other strong suspects was Vincent James Costa, brother-in-law of Pino. Following their arrests, a former bondsman in Boston made frequent trips to Towanda in an unsuccessful effort to secure their release on bail. The Brink's truck was robbed in the early morning . Henry Baker, another veteran criminal who was rumored to be kicking in to the Pennsylvania defense fund, had spent a number of years of his adult life in prison. He was not involved in the Brinks robbery. Examination by the FBI Laboratory subsequently disclosed that the decomposition, discoloration, and matting together of the bills were due, at least in part, to the fact that all of the bills had been wet. The group had expected to find foreign currency at the security depot but instead happened upon 26 million worth of goods. All but Pino and Banfield stepped out and proceeded into the playground to await Costas signal. Masterminded by Brian 'The Colonel' Robinson and Mickey McAvoy, the gang hoped to make off with 3 million in cash, a sum that's now equivalent to just over 9 million. The ninth man had long been a principal suspect. Race tracks and gambling establishments also were covered in the hope of finding some of the loot in circulation. When the robbers decided that they needed a truck, it was resolved that a new one must be stolen because a used truck might have distinguishing marks and possibly would not be in perfect running condition. Interviews with him on June 3 and 4, 1956, disclosed that this 31-year-old hoodlum had a record of arrests and convictions dating back to his teens and that he had been conditionally released from a federal prison camp less than a year beforehaving served slightly more than two years of a three-year sentence for transporting a falsely made security interstate. Any doubts that the Brinks gang had that the FBI was on the right track in its investigation were allayed when the federal grand jury began hearings in Boston on November 25, 1952, concerning this crime. Although Gusciora was acquitted of the charges against him in Towanda, he was removed to McKean County, Pennsylvania, to stand trial for burglary, larceny, and receiving stolen goods. Accordingly, another lock cylinder was installed until the original one was returned. From their prison cells, they carefully followed the legal maneuvers aimed at gaining them freedom. Mutulu Shakur, born Jeral Wayne Williams, is serving a 60-year sentence for organizing multiple bank and armored car robberies in New York and Connecticut. In the fall of 1955, an upper court overruled the conviction on the grounds that the search and seizure of the still were illegal.). You get me released, and Ill solve the case in no time, these criminals would claim. Almost immediately, the gang began laying new plans. Some of the jewelry might. On the 26 November 1983, half a dozen armed men broke into the Brink's-Mat depot near London's Heathrow Airport, where they were expecting to find a million pounds worth of foreign currency.. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 1984 for involvement in the Brink's Mat job. Occasionally, an offender who was facing a prison term would boast that he had hot information. The Boston underworld rumbled with reports that an automobile had pulled alongside OKeefes car in Dorchester, Massachusetts, during the early morning hours of June 5. On November 26, 1981, six armed men from South London broke into the Brink's-Mat warehouse near London Heathrow. All efforts to identify the gang members through the chauffeurs hat, the rope, and the adhesive tape which had been left in Brinks proved unsuccessful. Todd Williamson/Getty Images David Ghantt attends the 2016 after party for the Hollywood premiere of Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo heist that he helped carry out.
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