Five men accused of a series of bank and armored car robberies around New England were convicted Monday on charges that will send them to prison for life without chance of parole.
A U.S. District Court jury delivered guilty verdicts on 54 of 55 counts, including ones charging the five in the Aug. 25, 1994, robbery in Hudson in which two armored car guards were slain. One defendant, Patrick McGonagle, was found not guilty of a carjacking count.The jury deliberated for 32 hours over seven days. The trial began in September.
The five men are from the Charlestown section of Boston, which had been notorious for its "code of silence.". An intensive investigation after the murders enabled the government to produce a string of witnesses who violated the code.