NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (UPI) — A jury on Thursday acquitted an accused New York gangster who authorities have long believed was part of a brazen armed robbery that netted more than $6 million in cash and jewelry from a cargo terminal at JFK International Airport nearly four decades ago.
For a month, Vincent Asaro had been on trial for his alleged role in the caper, which was the largest ever in the United States at the time — and was later immortalized as a plot device in the 1990 gangster film Goodfellas.
Jurors in the Brooklyn federal district court handed down the verdict Thursday after two days of deliberations.
The Dec. 11, 1978 heist saw the disappearance of about $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewelry — the equivalent of more than $21 million today, adjusted for inflation. Reputed mobster Jimmy Burke and his crew were suspected of the robbery within days of the heist.
Asaro, a member of the Bonanno crime family, was linked to the heist by a police informant and was arrested in January 2014.
Asaro’s attorney, though, criticized the informant and called him one of the worst witnesses he has ever seen. That, coupled with other questionable evidence, led the jury to acquit the 80-year-old on a 14-count federal indictment that included racketeering and extortion.
“Your Honor, thank you very much,” Asaro said to the judge as he left the courtroom. When he got outside, he reportedly raised his arms and shouted, “Free!” He had faced possible life imprisonment with a conviction.
The Lufthansa heist, the largest cash haul ever on U.S. soil at the time, was portrayed in the 1990 film Goodfellas, which starred Robert De Niro as Burke.
Witnesses and police said at least six people participated in the armed robbery, which investigators said relied on inside knowledge of the facility that was obtained by one of the perpetrators. Following the heist, several people that police suspected in the heist were violently killed.
Four others were arrested with Asaro last year but none of the others have been tried. In fact, Asaro is the only person ever to be prosecuted for the heist.
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