Mobster failed lie detector test about infamous Boston museum art heist
A reputed mobster authorities believe has info on the infamous
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist had a list of the paintings —
with dollar amounts — in his home, and failed a lie detector test in
which he claimed not to know the location of the 13 missing masterworks,
prosecutors said.
The details emerged yesterday as Robert Gentile, 76, was sentenced by Judge Robert Chatigny to serve 30 months in prison — with the possibility of release after 10 — on charges he sold prescription pain pills and compiled an arsenal inside his Manchester, Conn., home, including guns and homemade silencers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham said in court that authorities found more during a February 2012 search there, including a Boston Herald article dated a day after the 1990 heist that included a list of the 13 pieces of art and their estimated market value.
Durham also said that during an FBI-administered polygraph test, it
was determined that there was a “99 percent likelihood” Gentile was
lying when he said he didn’t know where the paintings were located.
Gentile has long denied knowing anything about the heist despite the existence of a $5 million reward. His lawyer, A. Ryan McGuigan, has accused prosecutors of throwing the book at his client in an effort to turn up the heat on the long-stalled investigation into the missing art.
McGuigan yesterday refuted the results of the lie detector test, which he said came under extreme conditions, including a threat by an investigator that Gentile would die in a federal prison if he didn’t cooperate.
Gentile didn’t address the heist during a short statement to the court, instead tearfully begging a judge to show mercy so he can be home with his wife, who he said is “very sick.” District Court Judge Robert N. Chatigny did, throwing away the 46- to 57-month guidelines and saying that while Gentile didn’t appear genuinely remorseful about the charges he pleaded to, he was a “good husband and a good father — and that weighs in your favor.”
“My client is very pleased with the sentencing,” McGuigan said. “He believes it’s very fair, in light of what he did and didn’t do.”
Two men posing as police officers stole the artwork, including paintings by Rembrandt, van Rijn, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Johannes Vermeer worth an estimated $500 million. The Gardner probe has never turned up an arrest or the paintings, though authorities said in a bombshell announcement in March that they know who committed the March 18, 1990, heist, and that the art had been taken through Connecticut to Philadelphia, where its trail went cold a decade ago.
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/05/reputed_mobster_failed_lie_detector_test
The details emerged yesterday as Robert Gentile, 76, was sentenced by Judge Robert Chatigny to serve 30 months in prison — with the possibility of release after 10 — on charges he sold prescription pain pills and compiled an arsenal inside his Manchester, Conn., home, including guns and homemade silencers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham said in court that authorities found more during a February 2012 search there, including a Boston Herald article dated a day after the 1990 heist that included a list of the 13 pieces of art and their estimated market value.
Gentile has long denied knowing anything about the heist despite the existence of a $5 million reward. His lawyer, A. Ryan McGuigan, has accused prosecutors of throwing the book at his client in an effort to turn up the heat on the long-stalled investigation into the missing art.
McGuigan yesterday refuted the results of the lie detector test, which he said came under extreme conditions, including a threat by an investigator that Gentile would die in a federal prison if he didn’t cooperate.
Gentile didn’t address the heist during a short statement to the court, instead tearfully begging a judge to show mercy so he can be home with his wife, who he said is “very sick.” District Court Judge Robert N. Chatigny did, throwing away the 46- to 57-month guidelines and saying that while Gentile didn’t appear genuinely remorseful about the charges he pleaded to, he was a “good husband and a good father — and that weighs in your favor.”
“My client is very pleased with the sentencing,” McGuigan said. “He believes it’s very fair, in light of what he did and didn’t do.”
Two men posing as police officers stole the artwork, including paintings by Rembrandt, van Rijn, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Johannes Vermeer worth an estimated $500 million. The Gardner probe has never turned up an arrest or the paintings, though authorities said in a bombshell announcement in March that they know who committed the March 18, 1990, heist, and that the art had been taken through Connecticut to Philadelphia, where its trail went cold a decade ago.
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/05/reputed_mobster_failed_lie_detector_test
0 comments:
Post a Comment