But not everyone is sure that things have changed. Cf. This piqued Cassano's curiosity. The exclusion of the firearms evidence might have raised a reasonable doubt as to identification because of the weakness of the other admissible evidence. History Planning. Philip Lafond was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, the getaway car. U.S. On Feb. 7, 2019, Brady pleaded guilty to bank robbery. Before COFFIN, BOWNES and TORRUELLA, Circuit Judges. Sutton was a bank robber and earned the nicknames The Actor and Slick Willie for his ingenuity in executing robberies in various disguises. 1987). ; $500,000-$600,000; Shea, OHalloran, Burke. Cf. William Sequeira, 59, was charged in Boston Municipal Court Central with two counts of armed robbery of a bank and one count of attempted armed robbery of a bank. William Sequeira, 59, of Providence, was arrested on Wednesday during an attempted robbery of the Citizen's Bank located at 426 Boylston Street in the Back Bay, police said. But as depicted in the movie, the task force had recently busted a gang which was very similar to the movies AK-47-wielding crew. We turn next to the evidentiary issues. The FBI's January 2020 Artifact of the Month is the chauffeur's cap left at the scene of the crime of the centurythe 1950 robbery of a Brink's bank branch . At that point I believe he said, "My name is Joe. ; Shea, McDonald. Banks are a completely unique beast when it comes to security. (Click image to view high-res.). Jan. 25, 1994 Wells Fargo armored car, Charlestown, Mass. Robert H. Brady, 42, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. So ultimately, although there seems to be some truth to the films depiction of Charlestown, its authenticity should be taken with a grain of salt. BOSTON A New Hampshire man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for the allegedly committing a string of five bank robberies across Northern Massachusetts. Brick houses and old-fashioned gaslights line Charlestown's narrow colonial streets, and ordinary folks bustle about the Dunkin' Donuts, and the CVS . The government then introduced the testimony of officer James O'Connor. See United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 418-19, 101 S. Ct. 690, 695-96, 66 L. Ed. [3], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlestown,_Boston, Throughout the 1960s until the mid-1990s, Charlestown was infamous for its Irish Mob presence. U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, Charlestown Man Sentenced For Bank Robbery, New Hampshire Man Indicted for Allegedly Robbing Five Massachusetts Banks, Boston Man Indicted for Robbing Brookline Bank, Boston Man Charged with Armed Robbery of Postal Worker. But finding an abuse of discretion as to the third issue, we vacate the judgment of conviction and remand to the district court for a new trial. District of Massachusetts ; Shea, OHalloran, McDonald, Burke. However, the story is a fictitious account of that Miracle, and details a black district-attorney from Brooklyn, who teams up with a corrupt FBI veteran agent in Boston, to take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown. 2d 70 (1979) (no abuse of discretion in admitting expert testimony that hair identifications could have been defendant's). It is clear from the evidence, however, that none of the eyewitnesses could positively identify Ferreira as one of the robbers except to testify as to his profile and general physical appearance. Whoever, by force and violence, or by intimidation, takes, or attempts to take, from the person or presence of another any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of, any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association; Shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. Mr. Burke recounted several armored car robberies and bank holdups in New England, including one in Hudson, N.H., in 1992 in which two armored car guards were killed. Prosecutors estimated that the gang committed more than 100 armed robberies and made off with millions of dollars during more than 30 years. 1975) (admitting a gun as relevant to intent; defendant had admitted that he took the gun with him and, while it was not used during the theft, "having it along would appear to be a form of criminal insurance for the success of the venture"). The owner of the laundry, who refused to give his name, said he doubted that the code of silence had really been broken. Then remembered the handful of movies based on crews in the 60s and 70s. Dennis J. Quirk, 39, was among a gang of robbers who toted loaded firearms, including an AK-47 rifle, and wore bulletproof vests during the 2005 heist attempt outside a Citizens Bank on a crowded Hanover Street, authorities said. A locked padlock The Hudson robbery was one of two in New Hampshire; the others were in Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1991. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Connolly said Charlestown residents and criminals alike decided to come forward following the Hudson deaths. One of the suspects was concealing an object with an orange jacket or sweater. The movie itself aspires to create a cinematic representation of Boston and in no way attempts to antagonize Charlestown or its people. Brady faces a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and restitution in the amount of $912. The police say that of the 50 homicides the group has tracked since 1975, arrests have been made in only about half. Over appellant's well-preserved objections, the district court admitted the weapons, stating that there was "enough association historically between the carrying of guns and the robbing of banks to make this sufficiently relevant." All five defendants are from the Charlestown section of Boston, an area known for its "code of . Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 20 Boston Irish Gangsters. A proficient group of thieves rob a bank and hold Claire, the assistant manager, hostage. To customer retention specialisteverywhere: At the root of every grey hair, there is a dead braincell. The next day, prosecutors say, officers were called to the M&T Bank on Boylston Street around 3:55 p.m. and demanded money, saying Im going to put a gun to your head if you dont give me $100 bills. He left with $388. This search produced a red/white baseball cap, a pair of sunglasses, $523 in money recovered from a toilet (including "bait" and "mutilated" money), and a key which turned out to be from a bank drawer. ; Shea, Burke. Prosecutors said they will ask for life sentences without parole, prescribed in federal sentencing guidelines, on two of the Hudson robbery counts. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Thus, reliance by O'Connor on Cassano's order justified the second detention. We hold that the district court abused its discretion in admitting irrelevant evidence. Affleck's crew of bank robbers needed genuine local flavor. 1 The issues on appeal are (1) whether the district court erred in refusing to suppress, inter alia, two firearms, $1,958 in cash (including about $150 in "bait money"), and coin rolls seized from Ferreira after an allegedly . 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. We need a person to come forward and say, I was there and I will testify. . This allegedly happened by Cassano's yell, "stop him." ), cert. 1987- fred hearn murder. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. I did my four months. We find that the weapons were irrelevant to the issues of identity and intimidation. The Community's Bank. The trial began in September. See United States v. Wiener, 534 F.2d 15, 18 (2d Cir. CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ Three men who were convicted in a deadly string of bank and armored car robberies after prosecutors finally broke the ``code of silence in Boston's rough Charlestown neighborhood were sentenced Friday to life in prison. The three are to be sentenced on May 18. Ninety-six percent of Charlestown is white. The Boston Police . Because drugs were a large part of Charlestowns crime problem, DEA got involved, joining forces with the Massachusetts State Police, Boston Police Department, and Boston Housing Police Department. Immediately after he was sentenced, Anthony Shea jumped up from his seat . Two men entered the First Bank and Trust at 1005 a.m. on Dec. 11. Shea's new sentence is for between 120 to 150 months in prison on the Londonderry bank robbery case. William Sequeira, 34, of Boston, and two brothers, Philip Lafond, 33, of Acushnet, and Donald R. Lafond Jr., 37, of New Bedford, already face state charges in connection with the robbery, at gunpoint, of $6,100 from the First Bank & Trust Co. at 645 Reservoir Ave. Along with Aaron Stockard, who he invited to work with him on the scripts, Affleck interviewed several locals of the Charlestown community. We vacate the judgment and remand to the district court for a new trial consistent with this opinion. William Sequeira is a serial bank robber who served decades in prison. See 1 Weinstein's Evidence p 702 at 702-13 (1985) (stating that a trial judge has ample discretion in the admission or exclusion of expert evidence, and his decision will be upheld on appeal unless "manifestly erroneous"); cf. BOSTON - An infamous criminal, who claims he's robbed more than 100 banks, was arrested in an attempted heist in the Back Bay. The Town is not based on a true story. She testified that this man seemed to be taller than the man in the lobby. The suspects were nowhere to be found at the time. But the intensive investigation and a change of heart in the community broke the code, prosecutors said. About five minutes later (35-40 minutes after the robbery), the officers renewed their investigation of the building, which contained many vacant apartments. Ravich, 421 F.2d at 1204 (emphasis added). Feb. 27, 1992 Bank of Boston, Newton, Mass. 1977) (en banc), cert. At separate points during the chase, Sequeira pointed a pistol at a pursuing officer and the men threw a large quantity of money, marked with red dye from an exploding dye pack, from the car. It's easy to get your financial life in order, today. HSBC Branch with ATM. United States v. Masse, 816 F.2d 805, 808, (1st Cir. Drinking, smoking pot, music . The key is whether the officers had a particularized suspicion of criminal activity. ; Shea, McDonald. In addition, special agents of the Department of Housing and Urban Development were able to take action against tenants living illegally in Charlestown housing. She also said that the robber stole some "coin rolls." William Sutton was the 11th person added to the Ten Most Wanted . denied, 423 U.S. 987, 96 S. Ct. 396, 46 L. Ed. Dennis C. Taylor, 47, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of bank robbery. Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. The case of the Charlestown robbers in the show "grows to encompass and eventually upend Boston's citywide . http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/26/us/neighborhood-finally-talks-and-loosens-crime-s-grip.html. It is the Irish gangsters like Whitey Bulger who dominated the headlines over the years. A Providence man who claims he's robbed at least 100 banks and that Ben Affleck's character in "The Town" was based on him was held without bail Thursday on charges of robbing two Boston banks and attempting to rob a third, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office said. United States v. Bingham, 628 F.2d 548 (9th Cir. Townies refer to serving a federal prison sentence as going to college and the area experiences a rate of drug-related hospitalizations and deaths 50% higher than the rest of Boston. Who are you?" The Professor and the Prostitute, the titular murder case in Linda Wolfe . Charlestown is well known to be a rough neighborhood, and as the . The gang was headed by the McLaughlin brothers (Bernie, Georgie, and Edward Punchy McLaughlin) and their associates, brothers Stevie and Connie Hughes from Charlestown. Although we dont have the exact figures for Charlestowns crime rate in the 90s, statistics suggest that there was indeed a surge in the rate of robberies in Massachusetts in the 80s and 90s, which substantially dropped in the mid-aughts. During the trial, FBI experts testified DNA tests linked Burke to a 1995 robbery in West Palm Beach. The first was reported at 9:10 a.m. at a Santander Bank branch at 287 Hanover St., and the second at 9:14 a.m. at a Citizens Bank branch THE COURT: Yes, I think the jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant was one of the robbers. I-Team: Serial bank robber arrested for attempted heist in Back Bay. Joan Lieberman with whom John Wall, Boston, Mass., were on brief for appellant. A hot line set up by DEA yielded hundreds of calls from community residents that developed into valuable leads and significant arrests. The following is the testimony as to what happened next. We have received a tremendous outpouring of support from the citizens, he said. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Posts: 240. top charlestown guys. Finally, we find that the evidence was irrelevant for impeachment purposes. Ferreira admitted that he knew McDonald. denied, 400 U.S. 834, 91 S. Ct. 69, 27 L. Ed. Four men in ski masks ambushed and hijacked the Northeast Armored Transport truck Aug. 25, 1994, in a parking lot of a branch of the NFS Savings Bank in Hudson. By bringing federal drug laws to bear, the task force was able to develop solid cases. In a stroll of Charlestown on a sunny day, it's hard to believe this tiny Boston neighborhood could be "the bank robbery capital of America" - the Warner Bros. hype about Ben Affleck's new film "The Town," which opens Friday. MICHELLE EMERY May 8, 1998. January 2020: Brinks Robbery Cap. Agent William Cassano testified as to the initial stop and as to Ferreira's similarity to the radioed description. Based on the true life events of Anthony Shea, Mike O'Halloran, Matt McDonald, Pat McGonagle and Stephen Burke who from Charlestown, MA had over 100 armed robberies in the 90's. 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