Mobster Linked To Art Heist Released In Gun Case

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut mobster who authorities believe is the last surviving person of interest in the largest art heist in history has been sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison in an unrelated weapons case.

Eighty-one-year-old Robert Gentile, who was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Hartford, was given credit for time already served, and is expected to spend less than another year behind bars.

Federal prosecutors have said they believe the Manchester resident 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. Gentile has denied knowing anything about it.

He pleaded guilty in the weapons case and has been in prison awaiting sentencing for almost three years.

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