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Man linked to $500M art heist released from prison

FILE - In this Thursday, March 11, 2010 file photo, empty frames from which thieves took "Storm on the Sea of Galilee," left background, by Rembrandt and "The Concert," right foreground, by Vermeer, remain on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The paintings were among more than a dozen works stolen from the museum March 21, 1990, in what is considered the largest art theft in history. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham said Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in federal court in Hartford, Conn., that the FBI believes Connecticut inmate Robert Gentile “had some involvement in connection with stolen property” related to the art heist. Agents have had unproductive discussions about the theft with Gentile, a 75-year-old reputed mobster who is jailed in a drug case. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)

HARTFORD, Conn. — A reputed Connecticut mobster who authorities believe is the last surviving person of interest in the largest art heist in history reached the end of a four-year prison sentence in an unrelated weapons case.

Eighty-two-year-old Robert Gentile was from the Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey Friday.

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Federal prosecutors have said they believe Gentile has information about the still-unsolved 1990 heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Thieves stole an estimated $500 million worth of artwork, including works by Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer.

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Gentile has denied knowing anything about it.

He pleaded guilty in the weapons case stemming from federal agents' seizure of firearms and ammunition from his Manchester home. He cannot possess firearms as a convicted felon.

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Associated Press

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