FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. Costa was associated with Pino in the operation of a motor terminal and a lottery in Boston. The other gun was picked up by the officer and identified as having been taken during the Brinks robbery. The amusement arcade operator told the officer that he had followed the man who passed this $10.00 bill to a nearby tavern. The new proceedings were based upon the fact that Pino had been arrested in December 1948 for a larceny involving less than $100. The robbers did little talking. It was billed as the perfect crime and the the crime of the century.. 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. After O'Keefe was released he was taken to stand trial for another burglary and parole violations and was released on a bail of $17,000. The officer verified the meeting. He was granted a full pardon by the acting governor of Massachusetts. Pino would take the locks to the mans shop, and keys would be made for them. In December 1948, Brinks moved from Federal Street to 165 Prince Street in Boston. This lead was pursued intensively. If Baker heard these rumors, he did not wait around very long to see whether they were true. They were held in lieu of bail which, for each man, amounted to more then $100,000. Underworld sources described him as fully capable of planning and executing the Brinks robbery. Each of these leads was checked out. From their prison cells, they carefully followed the legal maneuvers aimed at gaining them freedom. Except for $5,000 that he took before placing the loot in Maffies care, OKeefe angrily stated, he was never to see his share of the Brinks money again. [14] They each wore a chauffeur cap, pea Both men remained mute following their arrests. During their forays inside the building, members of the gang took the lock cylinders from five doors, including the one opening onto Prince Street. In its determination to overlook no possibility, the FBI contacted various resorts throughout the United States for information concerning persons known to possess unusually large sums of money following the robbery. Thus, when he and Gusciora were taken into custody by state authorities during the latter part of January 1950, OKeefe got word to McGinnis to recover his car and the $200,000 that it contained. What happened in the Brinks-Matt robbery? All of them wore Navy-type peacoats, gloves, and chauffeurs caps. In June 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora were arrested in Pennsylvania for a burglary. Shakur's conviction includes planning the $1.6 million Brinks robbery in Rockland on Oct. 20, 1981. At that time, Pino approached OKeefe and asked if he wanted to be in on the score. His close associate, Stanley Gusciora, had previously been recruited, and OKeefe agreed to take part. 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 removal of the lock cylinder from the outside door involved the greatest risk of detection. He had been questioned concerning his whereabouts on January 17, 1950, and he was unable to provide any specific account of where he had been. Each carried a pair of gloves. That prison term, together with Pinos conviction in March 1928 for carnal abuse of a girl, provided the basis for the deportation action. Other members of the robbery gang also were having their troubles. Thieves stole more than $1.2 million in cash and another $1.5 million in checks and. Had any particles of evidence been found in the loot which might directly show that they had handled it? OKeefe and Gusciora reportedly had worked together on a number of occasions. 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. In the end, the perfect crime had a perfect endingfor everyone but the robbers. After weighing the arguments presented by the attorneys for the eight convicted criminals, the State Supreme Court turned down the appeals on July 1, 1959, in a 35-page decision written by the Chief Justice. There were recurring rumors that this hoodlum, Joseph Sylvester Banfield (pictured), had been right down there on the night of the crime. At 4:20 p.m. on January 6, 1956, OKeefe made the final decision. Gordon John Parry, Brian Perry, Patrick Clark, Jean Savage and Anthony Black were all given between five and 10 years in prison for their part in the crime. Banfield, the driver, was alone in the front. During 1955, OKeefe carefully pondered his position. In the late summer of 1944, he was released from the state prison and was taken into custody by Immigration authorities. Less than $60,000 of the more than $2.7 million stolen would ever be recovered. There was Adolph Jazz Maffie, one of the hoodlums who allegedly was being pressured to contribute money for the legal battle of OKeefe and Gusciora against Pennsylvania authorities. 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. The robbery remained unsolved for nearly six years, until estranged group member Joseph O'Keefe testified only days before the statute of limitations would have expired. The casing operation was so thorough that the criminals could determine the type of activity taking place in the Brinks offices by observing the lights inside the building, and they knew the number of personnel on duty at various hours of the day. After receiving the go ahead signal from Costa, the seven armed men walked to the Prince Street entrance of Brinks. This vehicle was traced through motor vehicle records to Pino. On August 30, he was taken into custody as a suspicious person. ), (After serving his sentence, Fat John resumed a life of crime. The trip from the liquor store in Roxbury to the Brinks offices could be made in about 15 minutes. According to the criminal who was arrested in Baltimore, Fat John subsequently told him that the money was part of the Brinks loot and offered him $5,000 if he would pass $30,000 of the bills. Following their arrests, a former bondsman in Boston made frequent trips to Towanda in an unsuccessful effort to secure their release on bail. A Secret Service agent, who had been summoned by the Baltimore officers, arrived while the criminal was being questioned at the police headquarters, and after examining the money found in the bill changers possession, he certified that it was not counterfeit. By Beth Rose. (Burke was arrested by FBI agents at Folly Beach, South Carolina, on August 27, 1955, and he returned to New York to face murder charges which were outstanding against him there. 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. [14] Over a period of several months, the robbers removed each lock from the building and had a key made for it, before returning the lock. After the truck parts were found, additional suspicion was attached to these men. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Their hands were tied behind their backs and adhesive tape was placed over their mouths. (Investigation to substantiate this information resulted in the location of the proprietor of a key shop who recalled making keys for Pino on at least four or five evenings in the fall of 1949. While the theft was originally intended to be a burglary, rather than an armed robbery, they could not find a way around the building's burglar alarm. He had been convicted of armed robbery in 1940 and served several months in the Massachusetts State Reformatory and the Norfolk, Massachusetts, Prison Colony. Prominent among the other strong suspects was Vincent James Costa, brother-in-law of Pino. When the employees were securely bound and gagged, the robbers began looting the premises. In pursuing the underworld rumors concerning the principal suspects in the Brinks case, the FBI succeeded in identifying more probable members of the gang. Pino also At the time of his arrest, there also was a charge of armed robbery outstanding against him in Massachusetts. It was used by the defense counsel in preparing a 294-page brief that was presented to the Massachusetts State Supreme Court. The defense immediately filed motions which would delay or prevent the trial. Apparently suspicious, OKeefe crouched low in the front seat of his car as the would-be assassins fired bullets that pierced the windshield. And what of McGinnis himself? [16] At 7:10 pm, they entered the building and tied up the five employees working in the vault area. All five employees had been forced at gunpoint to lie face down on the floor. For example, from a citizen in California came the suggestion that the loot might be concealed in the Atlantic Ocean near Boston. By fixing this time as close as possible to the minute at which the robbery was to begin, the robbers would have alibis to cover their activities up to the final moment. During the preceding year, however, he had filed a petition for pardon in the hope of removing one of the criminal convictions from his record. The criminal explained that he was in the contracting business in Boston and that in late March or early April 1956, he stumbled upon a plastic bag containing this money while he was working on the foundation of a house. WebInvestigators didnt know if this money was related to the Brinks-Mat robbery, but Diamond led officers to investigate the British Virgin Islands, and one accountant in particular. The missing racketeers automobile was found near his home; however, his whereabouts remain a mystery. During November and December 1949, the approach to the Brinks building and the flight over the getaway route were practiced to perfection. This is not the first time that Cuomo has commuted a sentence for someone involved in the Brink's robbery. In addition, McGinnis was named in two other complaints involving the receiving and concealing of the loot. This article is about the 1950 robbery. [14], Seven of the group went into the Brink's building: OKeefe, Gusciora, Baker, Maffie, Geagan, Faherty, and Richardson. It was at the time the largest robbery in the history of the United States, and has been called "the crime of the century". Apparently in need of money he kidnapped Vincent Costa and demanded his part of the loot for ransom. While action to appeal the convictions was being taken on their behalf, the eight men were removed to the State prison at Walpole, Massachusetts. Two members of the gang were quickly caught but the After continuing up the street to the end of the playground which adjoined the Brinks building, the truck stopped. Many other types of information were received. Underworld rumors alleged that Maffie and Henry Baker were high on OKeefes list because they had beaten him out of a large amount of money. 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. 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. Immediately upon leaving, the gang loaded the loot into the truck that was parked on Prince Street near the door. A number of them discontinued their operations; others indicated a strong desire that the robbers be identified and apprehended. Reports had been received alleging that he had held up several gamblers in the Boston area and had been involved in shakedowns of bookies. During this visit, Gusciora got up from his bed, and, in full view of the clergyman, slipped to the floor, striking his head. They put the entire $200,000 in the trunk of OKeefes automobile. Early in June 1956, however, an unexpected break developed. This incident also took place in Dorchester and involved the firing of more than 30 shots. On January 12, 1953, Pino was released on bail pending a deportation hearing. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Brink%27s_Robbery&oldid=1134169121, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 09:19. Pino, Richardson, and Costa each took $20,000, and this was noted on a score sheet. 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. Following the robbery, authorities attempted unsuccessfully to locate him at the hotel. The money inside the cooler which was concealed in the wall of the Tremont Street office was wrapped in plastic and newspaper. The descriptions and serial numbers of these weapons were carefully noted since they might prove a valuable link to the men responsible for the crime. As the loot was being placed in bags and stacked between the second and third doors leading to the Prince Street entrance, a buzzer sounded. From Boston, the pressure quickly spread to other cities. Had the ground not been frozen, the person or persons who abandoned the bags probably would have attempted to bury them. Since he claimed to have met no one and to have stopped nowhere during his walk, he actually could have been doing anything on the night of the crime. other securities in the 1950 Brinks heist. OKeefe immediately returned to Boston to await the results of the appeal. Two hours later he was dead. Pino, Costa, Maffie, Geagan, Faherty, Richardson, and Baker received life sentences for robbery, two-year sentences for conspiracy to steal, and sentences of eight years to ten years for breaking and entering at night. On September 8, 1950, OKeefe was sentenced to three years in the Bradford County jail at Towanda and fined $3,000 for violation of the Uniform Firearms Act. Brian Reader, 76, was jailed over the 26m Brink's-Mat armed robbery in 1983. By this time, Baker was suffering from a bad case of nerves. Shortly thereafterduring the first week of Novembera 1949 green Ford stake-body truck was reported missing by a car dealer in Boston. WebBoudin plead guilty to murder and robbery for her role as a passenger in the getaway U-Haul van, where the $1.6 million taken from the Brinks armored truck outside the The robbers carefully planned routine inside Brinks was interrupted only when the attendant in the adjoining Brinks garage sounded the buzzer. Adolph Maffie was convicted and sentenced to nine months for income tax evasion. Rumors from the underworld pointed suspicion at several criminal gangs. He was certain he would be considered a strong suspect and wanted to begin establishing an alibi immediately.) Gusciora also claimed to have been drinking that evening. This was in their favor. During the regular exercise period, Burke separated himself from the other prisoners and moved toward a heavy steel door leading to the solitary confinement section. Thirteen people were detained in the hours following the robbery, including two former employees of Brink's. While OKeefe and Gusciora lingered in jail in Pennsylvania, Pino encountered difficulties of his own. WebThe series stars Hugh Bonneville as Brian Boyce, the detective chief inspector on the case, and the cast also includes Jack Lowden, Adam Nagaitis, Tom Cullen and Dominic 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. An immediate effort also was made to obtain descriptive data concerning the missing cash and securities. OKeefe was wounded in the wrist and chest, but again he managed to escape with his life. WebNext year January 2023 to be precise will mark 30 years since the Brink's depot in Rochester was looted for $7.4 million, then the fifth largest armored car company heist in WebThe robbery occurred around 9:35 a.m. as the Brinks truck was parked in front of Pete's Fresh Market in the 1900-block of Sibley Blvd., Calumet City spokesperson Sean Howard This phase of the investigation greatly disturbed many gamblers. Because the money in the cooler was in various stages of decomposition, an accurate count proved most difficult to make. 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. After observing the movements of the guards, they decided that the robbery should take place just after 7 pm, as the vault would be open and fewer guards would be on duty. WebThe robberys mastermind was Anthony Fats Pino, a career criminal who recruited a group of 10 other men to stake out the depot for 18 months to figure out when it held the An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. He subsequently was convicted and executed.). A search of the hoodlums room in a Baltimore hotel (registered to him under an assumed name) resulted in the location of $3,780 that the officers took to police headquarters. 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. He had been short changed $2,000. Adding to these problems was the constant pressure being exerted upon Pino by OKeefe from the county jail in Towanda, Pennsylvania. Two days after Christmas of 1955, FBI agents paid another visit to OKeefe. 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. Until the FBI and its partners painstakingly solved the case. The mass of information gathered during the early weeks of the investigation was continuously sifted. 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. The truck found at the dump had been reported stolen by a Ford dealer near Fenway Park in Boston on November 3, 1949. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Extensive efforts were made to detect pencil markings and other notations on the currency that the criminals thought might be traceable to Brinks. There had been three attempts on his life in June 1954, and his frustrated assassins undoubtedly were waiting for him to return to Boston. The FBIs analysis of the alibis offered by the suspects showed that the hour of 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, was frequently mentioned. 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.
