A North Pocono man was sentenced for his role in a high-profile theft that targeted art and sports memorabilia in multiple states \u2014 a sentence that was less than what federal prosecutors requested.<\/p>\n
Senior U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion on Tuesday sentenced Joseph Atsus, 51, of Covington Twp., to four years in prison, to be followed by a term of supervised release, for conspiracy, theft of major artwork and concealment\/disposal of major artwork. The judge also ordered Atsus to pay $1,071,150 in restitution.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Atsus was among nine people involved in the theft ring that spanned two decades and stole millions of dollars\u2019 worth of art, antique coins and firearms, World Series rings, golf trophies and more from museums, galleries, halls of fame, estates and jewelry stores in Pennsylvania, other states and Washington, D.C.\n<\/p>\n
Items stolen locally included Jackson Pollock\u2019s \u201cSprings Winter\u201d and Andy Warhol\u2019s \u201cLa Grande Passion\u201d from the Everhart Museum in Scranton; Factoryville native and baseball great Christy Mathewson\u2019s contracts and other memorabilia from Keystone College; a century-old Tiffany lamp from the Lackawanna Historical Society; and professional golfer Art Wall Jr.\u2019s trophies from the Country Club of Scranton in South Abington Twp.\n<\/p>\n
Authorities said the men transported the stolen items to the area, often to the home of Nicholas Dombek, and melted them down into metal discs or bars. They then sold the raw metal to fences in the New York City area for dollar amounts significantly less than the sports memorabilia would be worth at fair market value.<\/p>\n
The whereabouts of many of the paintings and stolen objects are unknown.\n<\/p>\n
Atsus helped plan the crimes and drove his conspirators to the museums, where they would steal the items, according to prosecutors. They said he acted as the driver for the thefts from Keystone College, the Space Farms Zoo & Museum in Wantage, New Jersey, the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, New Jersey, Ringwood Manor in Ringwood, New Jersey, and the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey.\n<\/p>\n
Prosecutors recommended Atsus be sentenced to 97 months in prison, stating that he spent \u201ca large portion\u201d of his adult life involved in the 20-year-long conspiracy to steal priceless objects of cultural heritage, destroy or conceal them, and sell them for cash.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defendant\u2019s prolonged and wanton criminal conduct demonstrates a need for a lengthy term of incarceration,\u201d U.S. Attorney Brian Miller wrote in the sentencing memorandum. \u201cHis actions have not only caused financial hardship for the victims in this case, but his targeting of objects of cultural heritage have robbed current and future generations of the enjoyment of those priceless objects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atsus said in a letter to the judge prior to his sentencing he was raised with integrity and respect for others. Atsus also wrote that he takes pride in \u201cworking honestly and contributing positively to my community\u201d and has no prior criminal record.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis experience has had significant consequences beyond the courtroom, including the loss of long-term employment, financial stability, insurance coverage, and professional relationships,\u201d Atsus said in the letter. \u201cThese losses have been deeply humbling and have caused me to reflect seriously on my actions and the decisions that led me here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also wrote that he has a son with special needs, and the son relies on structure, stability and routine. Atsus said he strives to be present and supportive of his son daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile parenting is challenging, I love my son unconditionally and remain fully committed to his well-being,\u201d Atsus said in the letter.<\/p>\n
A jury found Atsus and two of his co-conspirators \u2014 Dombek, of Thornhurst Twp., and Damien Boland, of Covington Twp. \u2014 guilty of conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork and other charges early last year. Mannion sentenced Boland to nine years in prison late last year; Dombek awaits sentencing.\n<\/p>\n
Four other co-conspirators pleaded guilty and were sentenced by Mannion last year:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Thomas Trotta, of Dunmore, received eight years\u2019 imprisonment for theft of major artwork.\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Dawn Trotta, Thomas Trotta\u2019s sister, also of Dunmore, received 15 months\u2019 imprisonment for conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork, concealment and disposal of major artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property.\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Frank Tassiello, of Taylor, received six months\u2019 imprisonment for conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork, concealment and disposal of major artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property.\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ralph Parry, of Spring Brook Twp., received three years of probation and a period of home confinement for conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork, concealment and disposal of major artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property.\n<\/p>\n
A jury found Atsus\u2019 brother, Alfred Atsus, also of Covington Twp., not guilty on all counts. A ninth man, Daryl Rinker, of Thornhurst Twp., pleaded guilty but died in 2024. Parry, Tassiello and the Trottas pleaded guilty and cooperated with the government in their investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Pocono man was sentenced for his role in a high-profile theft that targeted art and sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[202,201,182,139,28,178,180,179],"class_list":["post-87002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}