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Three men have been convicted following a large-scale, 20-year conspiracy to steal major artwork, memorabilia, and other valuable items from museums and institutions across the United States
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 13 Feb 2025
Championship belts were stolen from the International Boxing Hall of Fame
Three men have been convicted following a large-scale, 20-year conspiracy to steal major artwork, memorabilia, and other valuable items from museums and institutions across the United States.
The US States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the conviction of Nicholas Dombek, Damien Boland, and Joseph Atsus, who were part of a larger nine-person conspiracy.
According to US Attorney John C. Gurganus, over two decades, the group orchestrated multiple heists at various cultural institutions, stealing priceless works of art, championship rings, sports memorabilia, antique firearms, and more. The men were found guilty of conspiracy to commit theft, concealment and disposal of stolen artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Some of the notable stolen items include a Christy Matthewson jersey and contracts taken from Keystone College in Pennsylvania in 1999, as well as iconic works of art such as Andy Warhol’s ‘Le Grande Passion’ and Jackson Pollock’s ‘Springs Winter’, stolen in 2005 from the Everhart Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The conspirators also stole ten World Series rings and other championship rings belonging to Yogi Berra in 2014 from the Yogi Berra Museum in New Jersey, valued at over US$1m (€962,000, £803,000) along with the Hickok Belt and MVP Trophy of Roger Maris, taken from the Roger Maris Museum in North Dakota in 2016. Additionally, various sports trophies and championship belts, including those from the International Boxing Hall of Fame and USGA Golf Museum & Library, were also part of the two-decade haul.
The stolen items were often transported back to northeastern Pennsylvania, where Dombek’s residence became a key location for melting down sports memorabilia into metal discs or bars to make the items easier to sell. These raw metal pieces were then sold to fences in the New York City area for a fraction of their true market value.
It was also revealed that Dombek intentionally destroyed the painting ‘Upper Hudson’ by Jasper Cropsey, worth around US$500,000 (€481,000, £402,000), by burning it to prevent its recovery by investigators. While many other stolen pieces remain missing, several antique firearms stolen from Space Farms Zoo and Museum, and Ringwood Manor Museum were recovered.
Five additional co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. A former co-defendant, Alfred Atsus, was acquitted of all charges during the trial. The defendants face a maximum penalty of imprisonment for a term of five years for the conspiracy conviction and maximum penalties of ten years’ imprisonment for each additional count of conviction, as well as a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
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