A MOBSTER who for years denied suspicions from authorities that he knew anything about a trove of artwork valued in the millions that was stolen in a 1990 museum heist and remains missing, has died. He was 85.
Ryan McGuigan Ryan Gentile was his attorney. He said that Robert Gentile died in September after suffering a stroke at the age of 85.
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Investigators had suspected that Gentile may at one time have had in his possession at least some of the artwork taken in March 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Two men, dressed in police uniforms, arrived at the museum late at night to steal the artifact.
The men took 13 pieces of the collection including Rembrandts, Vermeer, Degas and stole them from security guards.
The art was never found.
Gentile, who was convicted of many crimes and spent time in prison, was thought to have connections to those who stole the art, but he denied ever having any of them.
“I had nothing to do with the paintings. It’s a big joke,” Gentile spoke to The Associated Press by phone in 2019, after he was released from prison.
Authorities did not believe that. According to authorities, the widow of another mobster told Gentile that her husband had given Gentile two of the paintings. Gentile also spoke about the stolen work while in jail.
Prosecutors found in his home a list of stolen paintings, their estimated value, and a newspaper article on the museum heist. This led to his 2013 convictions for illegally selling prescription drug and possessing guns silencers, ammunition, and illegally selling them.
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