Alleged Mobster Acquitted in Lufthansa Heist Case
Joe Cortez November 13, 2015
Alleged mob member charged with 1978 JFK Lufthansa heist escapes conviction over accused connection to the robbery.
Eighty-year-old Vincent Asaro will return home a free man after a federal jury found the alleged mobster not guilty on charges of racketeering and extortion for his supposed role in the 1978 Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The New York Times reports Asaro was acquitted after three days of jury deliberation, ending a case nearly a decade in the making.
Asaro was accused of being one of the masterminds behind the JFK Lufthansa heist on December 11, 1978. The mafia-led crew stole an estimated $5 million in cash and nearly $1 million in jewelry flown to the airport by German flag carrier. The robbery was one of the largest thefts in the United States at the time. As a result, the crime was highly romanticized in novels and in film, most notably in the 1990 film Goodfellas.
The New York Times reports the case against Asaro began in 2008 after informant Gaspar Valenti came forward claiming to have knowledge of the Lufthansa heist. Asaro would ultimately be arrested in 2014 after federal prosecutors used the information to build a case against him. However, during the three-week trial that took nearly two years to come together, defense attorneys for Asaro were quick to call Valenti’s credibility in question.
“Gaspar Valenti was an experienced liar,” Elizabeth Macedonio, defense attorney for Asaro, said in a closing argument, according to the New York Times. “Once you eliminate Gaspar as a reliable person…you won’t be able to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt with regards to the crimes alleged against Vincent Asaro.”
If convicted, Asaro would have become the second man charged in the case. The first person tried in the Lufthansa heist was Louis Werner, a cargo agent working at JFK.
[Photo: NY Post/Gregory P. Mango]
