One of the Mob guys who helped plan "Goodfellas" airport heist found Not Guilty

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Vincent Asaro, Accused in Lufthansa Heist, Is Found Not Guilty

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORDNOV. 12, 2015

Vincent Asaro, who was charged with helping plan the 1978 Lufthansa robbery at Kennedy International Airport along with other acts of racketeering and extortion that spanned much of his 80 years, was acquitted on all counts on Thursday.

The jury in Federal District Court in Brooklyn began deliberations late on Monday and continued through the week with a break on Wednesday for Veterans Day.

During a three-week trial, prosecutors argued that Mr. Asaro, a third-generation Mafia member, had committed murder and robbery and performed shakedowns and other crimes on behalf of his Mafia family, the Bonnanos. The most famous one, depicted in the movie “Goodfellas,” was the robbery at the Lufthansa airline terminal at Kennedy Airport. It was then said to be the largest cash robbery in United States history. Mr. Asaro helped plan it, they said, and his accomplices stole $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewels from a cargo vault.

But the jury rejected the prosecution’s case, dealing a stunning blow to the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York. ...

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