$500M Art Heist: Agents Search Mobster's Home - East Idaho News
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$500M Art Heist: Agents Search Mobster’s Home

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Getty N 011012 PoliceLine?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1336675808070Joseph Devenney/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Law enforcement agents are digging in the yard of an alleged mobster who authorities believe may have information regarding an unsolved $500 million art heist that reads like a movie plot.

Among the masterpieces stolen more than 20 years ago were works by Degas and Rembrandt.

Authorities conducted a search Thursday on the property of Robert Gentile, 75, who was arrested earlier this year on federal drug charges. The warrant allowed ground penetrating radar to be used so agents could search for weapons, said A. Ryan McGuigan, Gentile’s attorney.

“Realistically are they looking for guns? No, they’re looking for the art [in his yard],” McGuigan said, pointing out that any sort of metal would suffer from corrosion underground.

The U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment on the search or what connection Gentile could have to the heist.

Gentile pleaded not guilty to federal weapon and gun charges last month and is being held without bond.

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