PHOTO: The runway at John F. Kennedy Airport. (Courtesy of Thinkstock)
Some 36 years after it actually happened, and 24 years after it was made famous in the movie 'Goodfellas,' the $5 million cash heist from Lufthansa Airlines at John F. Kennedy Airport is still producing suspects.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation this morning arreted five men with reputed Mafia ties who are alleged to have participated in the Lufthansa theft, according to ABC News.
The arrests came after a raid last June of the Queens, N.Y. home lived in by James "Jimmy The Gent" Burke, the inspiration for the Robert DeNiro character 'Jimmy Conway' in 'Goodfellas.'
Federal investigators have always believed Burke, who died in 1996 and whose daughter still owns the home, masterminded the Lufthansa heist and then began killing off associates who began flaunting the money and could connect him to the crime. That was played out in detail in the film, based on the book 'Wiseguy' by Mafia turncoat Henry Hill.
Among the five men arrested this morning were two notables - 78-year-old Vincent Asaro, of Howard Beach, Queens, believed to be a ranking member of the Bonanno organized crime family, and underboss Thomas "Tommy D" DiFiore of Commack, Long Island, the highest-ranking Bonanno family member not incarcerated.
The Lufthansa theft was never solved.
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