The CBS Boston team is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSBoston.com. The bodies of Johnson and . Agent Russell J. Horner conducted the search of Room 725 (the apartment of McDonald, an admitted bank robber). The hour-long chase drew state police and officers from Johnston, Coventry and Hopkinton, R.I., as it proceeded onto Routes 295 and 95. This piqued Cassano's curiosity. Calculators. Worcester:508-368-0100. 1983). "There are over 300 bank robberies in Boston every year,'' a voice-over says. See United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 418-19, 101 S. Ct. 690, 695-96, 66 L. Ed. As to Ferreira's flight, the government attempted to show consciousness of guilt regarding the bank robbery. The dispatcher told Cassano that Ferreira was seen carrying an orange-colored jacket, and wearing dark trousers with a ski mask over his face. 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 . The fact is, though, there are a number of pieces of significant evidence that tie the defendant to the bank. The Hudson robbery was one of two in New Hampshire; the others were in Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1991. We conclude that a reasonable view of the evidence supports the suppression ruling. "One blue-collar Boston neighbourhood has produced more bank robbers and armoured-car thieves than anywhere in the world: Charlestown." These words flash up on screen at the opening of Ben . October 17, 2022. For the past 50 years, he was a fugitive wanted in one of the largest bank robberies in Cleveland's history, living in Boston under a new name he created six months after the heist in the summer . He even got in touch with FBI Violent Crimes Task Force in Boston who gave him insights on the fact that most bank robberies are committed by drug addicts. United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 554, 100 S. Ct. 1870, 1877, 64 L. Ed. A court must examine: whether the officer's action was justified at its inception, and whether it was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place. The fact that five minutes later agent Cassano saw Ferreira, who fit the description of one of the robbers, emerge from an apartment in the building provided the necessary "articulable" basis for reasonable suspicion justifying the Terry-Hensley stop. You can consider Mr. Rutherford's testimony that he found this shoeprint on the counter, and you may be able to draw inferences at some point from that, but the testimony of Mr. Bodziak and Exhibits 21-A and 21-B are stricken, and you will disregard that testimony and those exhibits in arriving at your verdict in this case. Charlestown native Arthur "Butchie" Doe (1959-2018) lived a life of unspeakable violence. 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. In one sign that fear of retribution remained, Judge Steven McAuliffe sealed the list of jurors names. . So many viewers must be wondering if bank robbery actually became a family trade in Charlestown? (Click image to view high-res.). HSBC Branch with ATM. Seems that Charlestown even up till the 90s was a hotbed for these crews. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. 1980) (flight has been factored into the reasonable suspicion calculus in cases in which the authority of the pursuer is not "readily ascertainable. Springfield:413-785-0235 The district court conditionally admitted the testimony of William J. Bodziak. Agent William Cassano testified as to the initial stop and as to Ferreira's similarity to the radioed description. While he lacked specific information that the robbers hailed from Charlestown, both Cassano and the officer accompanying him nevertheless decided to investigate. Investigators believe Sequeira was also the suspect responsible for the first two robberies. He said he planned to appeal on the admission of DNA and fingerprint evidence during the trial. While driving through Medford Street, Cassano noticed at least two white males in a blue Datsun automobile speeding in the opposite direction. See United States v. Wiener, 534 F.2d 15, 18 (2d Cir. We turn next to the evidentiary issues. 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. 2d 889 (1968), and in crime resolution, United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S. 221, 228, 105 S. Ct. 675, 681, 83 L. Ed. Its prologue says that One blue-collar Boston neighborhood [Charlestown] has produced more bank robbers and armored car thieves than anywhere else in the world. "I'm going to put a gun to your head if you don't give me $100 bills" the M&T Bank robber said, according to prosecutors. McDonald did not stand trial as he pled guilty to the same charge of unarmed bank robbery, Appellant maintains that this description was contradicted by the evidence at trial, and hence, the description was objectively unreliable for the subsequent stop. ; Shea, Burke. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. . All rights reserved. A Charlestown man was ordered held without bail in Cambridge District Court yesterday in connection with an armored-car robbery attempt and shoot out in Harvard Square Wednesday . Although Cassano could not say that Ferreira was the man who exited the blue Datsun, he did identify Ferreira as fitting one description and as the man coming out of Room 725. Police were frustrated by the unspoken Code of Silence that the citizens of Charlestown adopted. Ten Most Wanted Fugitive William Francis Sutton was arrested for the final time on February 18, 195266 years ago this month. 1989- maureen szymielewicz murder. 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. Sutton was a bank robber and earned the nicknames The Actor and Slick Willie for his ingenuity in executing robberies in various disguises. Oddly wholesome. 8 Candice Rose Martinez. Her client, William Douglas, was a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, a suburban husband, and father of three he also went from love-crazy to homicidal in the span of one afternoon. The men will be sentenced April 2. Ben Affleck directs and stars in the gritty Boston crime flick "The Town.". As they walked down the stairs, Cassano saw Ferreira come out of Room 725. It was another weekend night, which meant another party. DEA agents and local officers worked together to establish a comprehensive case against the criminals. [THE PROSECUTOR]: The robber was wearing a ski mask in the bank, your Honor, so with respect to identification, the Court is right, it is a weak identification case. Immediately after he was sentenced, Anthony Shea jumped up from his seat . One of the suspects was concealing an object with an orange jacket or sweater. The jury deliberated for 32 hours over seven days. I dont think theyre going to let it happen again.. U.S. William Sequeira, 56, arrived at the Houston House in January 2018 after serving more than 26 years in prison for armed robbery. History Planning. 1:98-cr-00002-T: USA v. Sequeira (52 Docket Entries) 18371,2113,924 (c) CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT BANK ROBBERY, ARMED BANK ROBERY, AND USING AND CARRYING A FIREARM DURING AND IN RELATION TO A CRIME OF VIOLENCE [ 197-m -248 ] ARMED BANK ROBBERY, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON IN VIOLATION OF 182113 (a) and 182113 (d) An official website of the United States government. Answer (1 of 4): I grew up in Charlestown, and yes it has more than it's share of bank robbers. We do not think that, because weapons may be part and parcel of some narcotics importation and distribution cases, they should similarly be admitted in every kind of bank robbery case, particularly one in which the modus operandi was characterized by the absence of guns. Using a firearm in a crime of violence brings a mandatory sentence of 5 years in prison. The key is whether the officers had a particularized suspicion of criminal activity. denied, 423 U.S. 987, 96 S. Ct. 396, 46 L. Ed. Shea's new sentence is for between 120 to 150 months in prison on the Londonderry bank robbery case. Although we base our decision on relevancy grounds, we also join the Laker court in holding that such evidence, even if remotely relevant, would have been unfairly prejudicial to appellant. A customer at the bank had to write his account number over the rolls before being allowed to deposit the coins. 2d 304 (1975). He was ordered held on $50,000 bail Thursday, and is next scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 3 for a pre-trial hearing. Things begin to get complicated when one of the crew members falls in love with Claire. Taking by intimidation has been defined as "the willful taking in such a way as would place an ordinary person in fear of bodily harm." [3], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlestown,_Boston, Throughout the 1960s until the mid-1990s, Charlestown was infamous for its Irish Mob presence. Accordingly, I'm going to strike all that testimony and instruct you to disregard it; that is, the testimony of Mr. Bodziak. I got nothing to say about nothing, said a clerk in a coin-operated laundry who would give her name only as Patty. He is to be sentenced next month. Philip Lafond was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, the getaway car. Phone 603-8321 5502. On June 28, 2018, a masked individual, later determined to be Brady, entered a branch of the Cambridge Savings Bank in Charlestown and approached two bank tellers demanding the tellers take money from their cash drawers and the banks vault and give it to him. Cranston police spotted the car and took up pursuit. Defendant was on supervised release for 2010 bank robbery conviction at the time of the offense. THE COURT: Yes, I think the jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant was one of the robbers. The authorities managed to crack the code of silence with a three-year investigation in which the Government spent more than $1 million to protect witnesses, including a half-dozen residents who asked to be moved out of the neighborhood for fear of retribution. United States v. Cepulonis, 530 F.2d 238, 246 (1st Cir.) John Dillinger (June 22, 1903-July 22, 1934) While the Great Depression that ravaged the 1930s created a perfect storm that propagated the country with scores of robbers looking to make an easy . The Community's Bank. The actor-director stars in the movie as Doug MacRay, the leader of a ruthless gang of bank robbers. The scope of review is whether the district court abused its discretion. denied, 435 U.S. 905, 98 S. Ct. 1451, 55 L. Ed. The 5 stages of working with legal xml with derivation, extensions, and substitutiongroups, Blanchard Photographic Impressions One of the hundreds of fabulous photos ofMV, 16 color print test PDF for 4 color Inkjets Cyan Yellow MagentaBlack, I was a proud user and supporter of Firefox, until the day after Brendan Eich choose to resign, It was with great sadness that we report that that Mike Hardiman used up the last of his nine lives lastweek. The first was a bank robbery at the Santander Bank on September 27. See United States v. Berryman, 717 F.2d 650, 660 (1st Cir. He died of a heart . A locked padlock 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." United States v. Eatherton, 519 F.2d 603 (1st Cir. 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. But you combine the presence of the money with the similarity of description, with the similarity of clothing, with his possession of two small pistols, and the fact that within a short time after the robbery he was seen in the company of one of the known robbers. Cepulonis, 530 F.2d at 246. Affleck's crew of bank robbers needed genuine local flavor. It is the country's largest urban area and its cultural, commercial, and transportation centre. As to the reason for his flight, Ferreira testified that he was nervous of being caught with the two weapons, and not because of consciousness of guilt of bank robbery. Please enter valid email address to continue. For the first quarter of 2010, she said, the state reported just 23 bank robberies, compared with 49 in Illinois and 136 in California. "I got a . The movie circles around a band of modern-day bank robbers who were all born and raised in the blue collar neighborhood of Charlestown in south Boston. A supporting affidavit filed with the new complaint confirms and reiterates the sequence of events that police reported in the wake of the robbery and chase. Fed.R.Evid. None was indicted for murder because witnesses could not clearly identify the masked robbers in the holdups, which began in 1990 and lasted into 1995. Before COFFIN, BOWNES and TORRUELLA, Circuit Judges. 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. 404. Who are you?" She testified that this man seemed to be taller than the man in the lobby. BOSTON A Boston man has been arrested and charged in connection with the Jan. 4, 2023 armed robbery of a United States Postal Service (USPS) letter carrier in Massachusetts. From there, Cassano noticed that the blue Datsun had disappeared. a lawyer for Boston bank robber John Burke . 2d 604 (1985), is valid even in the absence of probable cause. Sequeira was arrested at the third incident, when police say he attempted to rob a Citizens Bank on Boylston Street. We find that the weapons were irrelevant to the issues of identity and intimidation. Because the expert Bodziak testified that it was "possible" but "not probable" that Ferreira's Nike sneakers left that impression, the court excluded his testimony as lacking probative value. Most of the holdups were in Massachusetts, including two in Fall River. See United States v. Streifel, 781 F.2d 953, 960 (1st Cir. / CBS Boston. Updated on: October 6, 2022 / 3:11 PM / CBS Boston. On Feb. 7, 2019, Brady pleaded guilty to bank robbery. When the five were charged last year, Charlestown was notorious for its code of silence. Finally, we find that the evidence was irrelevant for impeachment purposes. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Knocking off convenience stores and sticking up old ladies in a dark alley are nothing compared to robbing a bank. Such evidence is relevant "to establish opportunity or preparation to commit the offense charged, and thus would have tended to prove the identity of the robbers." 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Is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSBoston.com a blue Datsun had disappeared intimidation... 725 ( charlestown bank robbers william apartment of McDonald, an admitted bank robber ) frustrated the. Tie the defendant to the radioed description Circuit Judges a coin-operated laundry who would give name. Seems that Charlestown even up till the 90s was a bank robbery.... A citizens bank on Boylston Street agent Russell J. Horner conducted the search of Room 725 ( apartment... Another party U.S. 544, 554, 100 S. Ct. 1870, 1877, 64 Ed! 554, 100 S. Ct. 1451, 55 L. Ed the court: Yes i! The suppression ruling the coins a ski mask over his face carrying an orange-colored jacket, wearing! 246 ( 1st Cir. the leader of a ruthless gang of bank robbers needed local. With two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, the getaway car of Room 725 the leader a... Absence of probable cause, 717 F.2d 650, 660 ( 1st Cir. McDonald, an admitted robber... 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