The robbers did little talking. Costa was associated with Pino in the operation of a motor terminal and a lottery in Boston. The alibi, in fact, was almost too good. He received a one-year sentence for this offense; however, on January 30, 1950, the sentence was revoked and the case was placed on file.. After a period of hostility, he began to display a friendly attitude. 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. Many problems and dangers were involved in such a robbery, and the plans never crystallized. 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. Again, he was determined to fight, using the argument that his conviction for the 1948 larceny offense was not a basis for deportation. Due to his criminal record, the Immigration and Naturalization Service instituted proceedings in 1941 to deport him. Other members of the robbery gang also were having their troubles. This was in their favor. They did not expect to. While OKeefe and Gusciora lingered in jail in Pennsylvania, Pino encountered difficulties of his own. The Brinks Job, 1950. Through the interviews of persons in the vicinity of the Brinks offices on the evening of January 17, 1950, the FBI learned that a 1949 green Ford stake-body truck with a canvas top had been parked near the Prince Street door of Brinks at approximately the time of the robbery. Rumors from the underworld pointed suspicion at several criminal gangs. The robbers carefully planned routine inside Brinks was interrupted only when the attendant in the adjoining Brinks garage sounded the buzzer. And it nearly was. On November, 26, 1983, three tonnes of solid gold bullion was taken by six armed robbers from the Brink's-Mat security depot near . In the succeeding two weeks, nearly 1,200 prospective jurors were eliminated as the defense counsel used their 262 peremptory challenges. Each carried a pair of gloves. Occasionally, an offender who was facing a prison term would boast that he had hot information. Released to McKean County, Pennsylvania, authorities early in January 1954 to stand trial for burglary, larceny, and receiving stolen goods, OKeefe also was confronted with a detainer filed by Massachusetts authorities. An appeal was promptly noted, and he was released on $15,000 bond. The hoodlum was taken to police headquarters where a search of his person disclosed he was carrying more than $1,000, including $860 in musty, worn bills. Two days before Maffies release, another strong suspect died of natural causes. The families of OKeefe and Gusciora resided in the vicinity of Stoughton, Massachusetts. Their success in evading arrest ended abruptly on May 16, 1956, when FBI agents raided the apartment in which they were hiding in Dorchester, Massachusetts. 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. 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. Neither had too convincing an alibi. A federal search warrant was obtained, and the home was searched by agents on April 27, 1950. Burke, a professional killer, allegedly had been hired by underworld associates of OKeefe to assassinate him. The Great Brinks Robbery was the biggest armed robbery in U.S. history at the time. (A detailed survey of the Boston waterfront previously had been made by the FBI.) During this visit, Gusciora got up from his bed, and, in full view of the clergyman, slipped to the floor, striking his head. The theft changed the face of the British underworld. There was James Ignatius Faherty, an armed robbery specialist whose name had been mentioned in underworld conversations in January 1950, concerning a score on which the gang members used binoculars to watch their intended victims count large sums of money. 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. 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. He later was to be arrested as a member of the robbery gang. During these weeks, OKeefe renewed his association with a Boston racketeer who had actively solicited funds for the defense of OKeefe and Gusciora in 1950. On June 4, 1956 a man named "Fat John" admitted he had money that was linked to the Brink's robbery in his possession. In the back were Pino, OKeefe, Baker, Faherty, Maffie, Gusciora, Michael Vincent Geagan (pictured), and Thomas Francis Richardson. (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. 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 . 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. During questioning by the FBI, the money changer stated that he was in business as a mason contractor with another man on Tremont Street in Boston. Race tracks and gambling establishments also were covered in the hope of finding some of the loot in circulation. The. Considerable thought was given to every detail. ), (After serving his sentence, Fat John resumed a life of crime. Another week passedand approximately 500 more citizens were consideredbefore the 14-member jury was assembled. The Brinks vehicle, followed closely by guards traveling in an automobile, turned onto a stone-paved lane called Old Bethel Road. Some of the jewelry might. Investigation established that this gun, together with another rusty revolver, had been found on February 4, 1950, by a group of boys who were playing on a sand bar at the edge of the Mystic River in Somerville. Both OKeefe and Gusciora had been interviewed on several occasions concerning the Brinks robbery, but they had claimed complete ignorance. The missing racketeers automobile was found near his home; however, his whereabouts remain a mystery. Instead, they found three tonnes of gold bullion. The incident happened outside of a Chase Bank in . Another old gang that had specialized in hijacking bootlegged whiskey in the Boston area during Prohibition became the subject of inquiries. Baker fled and the brief meeting adjourned. After continuing up the street to the end of the playground which adjoined the Brinks building, the truck stopped. Pino was determined to fight against deportation. 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. During his brief stay in Boston, he was observed to contact other members of the robbery gang. Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life. BY The Associated Press. Officials said the incident happened at a Wendy's in a strip mall at 87th and Lafayette, right off the Dan Ryan Expressway. The thieves quickly bound the employees and began hauling away the loot. The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. After careful checking, the FBI eliminated eight of the suspects. The Brink Mat robbery was a heist that occurred at Heathrow International Trading Estate on November 26, 1983, when six armed robbers broke into a warehouse run by a US and British joint venture, Brink's Mat. He was certain he would be considered a strong suspect and wanted to begin establishing an alibi immediately.) The other keys in their possession enabled them to proceed to the second floor where they took the five Brinks employees by surprise. Each man also was given a pistol and a Halloween-type mask. On March 4, 1950, pieces of an identical truck were found at a dump in Stoughton, Massachusetts. During this operation, a pair of glasses belonging to one of the employees was unconsciously scooped up with other items and stuffed into a bag of loot. Gusciora now had passed beyond the reach of all human authority, and OKeefe was all the more determined to see that justice would be done. 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 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. 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. 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. Even before Brinks, Incorporated, offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible, the case had captured the imagination of millions of Americans. Despite the arrests and indictments in January 1956, more than $2,775,000, including $1,218,211.29 in cash, was still missing. 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. In September 1949, Pinos efforts to evade deportation met with success. Using the outside door key they had previously obtained, the men quickly entered and donned their masks. On October 20, 1981, members of the Black Liberation Army robbed a Brink's truck at the Nanuet Mall. 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 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. On the night of January 17, 1952exactly two years after the crime occurredthe FBIs Boston Office received an anonymous telephone call from an individual who claimed he was sending a letter identifying the Brinks robbers. 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. As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. Faherty and Richardson fled to avoid apprehension and subsequently were placed on the list of the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. When questioned concerning his activities on the night of January 17, 1950, Richardson claimed that after unsuccessfully looking for work he had several drinks and then returned home. While action to appeal the convictions was being taken on their behalf, the eight men were removed to the State prison at Walpole, Massachusetts. Examination revealed the cause of his death to be a brain tumor and acute cerebral edema. Micky McAvoy, who masterminded the 1983 robbery of 26million from Brinks-Mat's Heathrow depot, has died aged 70 and never got his hands on the money stolen in the mega-heist 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. 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 . The Brinks case was front page news. 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. At the outset, very few facts were available to the investigators. He was granted a full pardon by the acting governor of Massachusetts. 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. Inside this container were packages of bills that had been wrapped in plastic and newspapers. After completing its hearings on January 9, 1953, the grand jury retired to weigh the evidence. The group were led . He ran a gold and jewellery dealing company, Scadlynn Ltd, in Bristol with business partners Garth Victor Chappell and Terence Edward James Patch. The Transit's heavily armed occupants had stolen the bullion less than an hour earlier from the Brink's-Mat security warehouse 12 miles away at Heathrow. More than 100 persons took the stand as witnesses for the prosecution and the defense during September 1956. That prison term, together with Pinos conviction in March 1928 for carnal abuse of a girl, provided the basis for the deportation action. A detailed search for additional weapons was made at the Mystic River. In the late summer of 1944, he was released from the state prison and was taken into custody by Immigration authorities. From Boston, the pressure quickly spread to other cities. This man, subsequently identified as a small-time Boston underworld figure, was located and questioned. Investigation revealed that Geagan, a laborer, had not gone to work on January 17 or 18, 1950.). (The arrests of Faherty and Richardson also resulted in the indictment of another Boston hoodlum as an accessory after the fact). His explanation: He had been drinking at a bar in Boston. 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 person ringing the buzzer was a garage attendant. Several hundred dollars were found hidden in the house but could not be identified as part of the loot. They did not expect to find the Aladdin's cave to contain some 26m in gold bullion and diamonds that they stumbled upon. The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. The group were led . Continuous investigation, however, had linked him with the gang. This incident also took place in Dorchester and involved the firing of more than 30 shots. The detainer involved OKeefes violation of probation in connection with a conviction in 1945 for carrying concealed weapons. 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. Had the ground not been frozen, the person or persons who abandoned the bags probably would have attempted to bury them. At approximately 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, members of the gang met in the Roxbury section of Boston and entered the rear of the Ford stake-body truck. This man claimed to have no knowledge of Pinos involvement in the Brinks robbery.). Born in Italy in 1907, Pino was a young child when he entered the United States, but he never became a naturalized citizen. On the night of January 18, 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora received $100,000 each from the robbery loot. LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- The FBI and the Los Angeles County. In 1997, Loomis Fargo employee David Ghantt robbed the armored car company of $17 million. Three years later, Great Train Robber. It was used by the defense counsel in preparing a 294-page brief that was presented to the Massachusetts State Supreme Court. The loot was quickly unloaded, and Banfield sped away to hide the truck. 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. His records showed that he had worked on the offices early in April 1956 under instructions of Fat John. The loot could not have been hidden behind the wall panel prior to that time. CHICAGO (CBS) - A woman has been charged after more than $100,000 was stolen from Brinks truck outside Edgewater bank on Monday afternoon. 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. 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. He claimed he had been drinking in various taverns from approximately 5:10 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. OKeefes racketeer associate, who allegedly had assisted him in holding Costa for ransom and was present during the shooting scrape between OKeefe and Baker, disappeared on August 3, 1954. Shortly after these two guns were found, one of them was placed in a trash barrel and was taken to the city dump. 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. In the deportation fight that lasted more than two years, Pino won the final victory. At the time of his arrest, there also was a charge of armed robbery outstanding against him in Massachusetts. A few years before the Brink's-Mat robbery . Shortly after 6.40am, six armed robbers in balaclavas entered a warehouse at Heathrow airport belonging to security company Brink's-Mat. Pino had been questioned as to his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950, and he provided a good alibi. As a guard moved to intercept him, Burke started to run. Adolph Maffie, who had been convicted of income tax violation in June 1954, was released from the Federal Corrections Institution at Danbury, Connecticut, on January 30, 1955.