For over two decades, from 1999 to 2019, merciless thieves targeted numerous Halls of Fame, museums and businesses, stealing precious mementos of beloved athletes such as Yogi Berra. But, as Yogi famously said, "It ain't over 'til it's over.”
Federal prosecutors have brought charges against nine people for allegedly organizing a crime spree for over twenty years, stealing high-value items, including sports memorabilia, from five states.
On Thursday, the Feds released an announcement that alleged nine people, ranging in ages between their forties and fifties, stole from Halls of Fame and other places in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and North Dakota. The individuals charged, all from Pennsylvania, ran a sophisticated operation, according to Federal prosecutors.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Nicholas Dombek, age 53, of Thornhurst, Pennsylvania, Damien Boland, age 47, of Moscow, Pennsylvania, Alfred Atsus, age 47, of Covington Township, Pennsylvania, and Joseph Atsus, age 48, of Roaring Brook, Pennsylvania, were arrested for conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork, concealment or disposal of objects of cultural heritage, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
The four men were also charged with substantive counts of theft of major artwork and the concealment or disposal of objects of cultural heritage. The alleged thief Dombek was further charged with a “substantive count of interstate transportation of stolen property.”
Five more men were indicted and charged for the same conspiracy scheme. They are Thomas Trotta, age 48, of Moscow, Pennsylvania, Frank Tassiello, age 50, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Daryl Rinker, age 50, of Thornhurst, Pennsylvania, Dawn Trotta, age 51, of Covington Township, Pennsylvania, and Ralph Parry, age 45, of Covington Township, Pennsylvania.
Allegedly, they successfully conducted a “two-decade operation in which the group broke into museums and businesses to steal an array of treasured artworks, jewelry and sports memorabilia — from a light green screen print by Andy Warhol to nine of the 10 World Series rings belonging to the revered New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra.”
Charges include conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork and interstate transportation of stolen property. The numerous thefts were always a great surprise to the targeted local, low-key Halls of Fame, such as the one in Montclair, New Jersey, where Yogi Berra lived.
Federal prosecutors listed the numerous items stolen over more than two decades, all high-value items.
United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam said, “The indictment and informations charge the nine with conspiring over a period of 20 years to break into multiple museums and other institutions to steal priceless works of art, sports memorabilia, and other objects. Those objects include the following:
The charges brought by the Federal prosecutors include allegations the nine men transported stolen goods across state lines and melted some of the memorabilia down to bars or discs. The sale of these melted-down metals brought in, according to the prosecutors, “hundreds or thousands of dollars, but significantly less than the stolen items would be worth at fair market value.”
In further charges brought against Dombek, authorities allege he stole a famous painting by Jasper Cropsey, worth about $500,000, and then burned the work of art to avoid it being used as evidence against him.
Currently, many items from the long list of valuable memorabilia and art have not yet been found.
If convicted, the nine men can face up to five years imprisonment for the conspiracy charge, and ten years’ imprisonment for each of the other offenses.
If Yogi Berra were alive today, this reporter, who knew him personally, believes he would have this to say to the men charged in this case, since no crime is a perfect crime.
"If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be.” - Yogi Berra
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