International diamond thieves held in alleged bank plot
Two men convicted of stealing the 45-carat Marlborough Diamond in a $3.6 million daylight robbery in London 30 years ago have been arrested on charges of scheming to rob a suburban Chicago bank.
Seventy-three-year old Joseph "Jerry" Scalise and 71-year-old Arthur Rachel were arrested Thursday, along with 69-year-old Robert Pullia. Authorities claim the men planned to rob the First National Bank of LaGrange.
the men appeared Friday before Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan, who set a bond hearing for Wednesday. Defense attorney Terence P. Gillespie told reporters all three would plead not guilty.
Scalise and Rachel were convicted in a British court of robbing Graff Jewelers in central London in 1980.
Authorities say the men were arrested as they allegedly were about to rob a Chicago home that once belonged to late Chicago mob boss Angelo LaPietra.
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<li><a href="http://chicago.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/cg040910.htm" target="new">FBI press release</a></li>
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