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Nine Pennsylvania residents are charged with taking part in a 20-year conspiracy to steal sports memorabilia and works of art from museums across the country, said the office of US Attorney Gerard Karam.
The suspects, all of whom hail from Lackawanna County, conspired to steal paintings, antiques, and collectible items in a string of heists dating back to 1999 and targeting galleries and exhibitions in at least five states, prosecutors said.
Stolen items listed in the indictment include:
- Paintings by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock from the Everhart Museum in Scranton
- Nine World Series rings, seven championship rings, and two MVP plaques awarded to Yankees great Yogi Berra from the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey
- Six boxing championship belts from the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York
- Yankees great Roger Maris' Hickok Belt and MVP plaque from the Roger Maris Museum in Fargo, North Dakota
- Five horse-racing trophies from the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York
Prosecutors said they also took antique firearms, a Tiffany lamp, golden nuggets, and various other antiques and collectibles from shops and museums in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.
After swiping the goods, authorities say the crew would transport their haul back to Northeastern Pennsylvania, where they allegedly "melted the memorabilia down into easily transportable metal discs or bars."
The bars were sold in and around New York City for a few hundred or thousand dollars — "significantly less than the stolen items would be worth at fair market value," the US Attorney's Office notes.
In one case, authorities say suspect Nicholas Dombek burned a Jasper Cropsey painting valued at $500,000 to prevent federal investigators from finding it. Several pieces of memorabilia and works of art thought to have been stolen by the Lackawanna Nine are still missing, prosecutors added.
Authorities say they stole more than $3.9 million worth of items.
Four men are charged with conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork and related counts:
- Nicholas Dombek, 53, of Thornhurst
- Damien Boland, 47, of Moscow
- Alfred Atsus, 47, of Covington Township
- Joseph Atsus, 48, of Roaring Broo
Five more are charged with felony informations for the same conspiracy:
- Thomas Trotta, 48, of Moscow
- Frank Tassiello, 50, of Scranton
- Daryl Rinker, 50, of Thornhurst
- Dawn Trotta, 51, of Covington Township
- Ralph Parry, 45, of Covington Township
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