Pair Convicted in Bloody 1981 Brink’s Holdup
Two self-styled revolutionaries were convicted Wednesday of taking part in the bungled 1981 robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in which three people were killed.
A federal court jury in Manhattan found Mutulu Shakur and Marilyn Jean Buck guilty on all eight counts, which included racketeering, conspiracy, armed robbery and murder during a bank robbery.
The pair face sentences of 10 years to life in prison for their convictions on two counts of murder while committing robberies. The bank robbery and racketeering convictions carry maximum 20- to 25-year sentences.
The jury reached its verdict on the seventh day of deliberations in the trial, which began last November. U.S. District Judge Charles Haight has not set a sentencing date.
Trial Called Political
One of Shakur’s defense attorneys, Jesse Berman, said the verdict would be appealed. The defense contended that Shakur and Buck, who remain in jail, are revolutionaries who were put on trial because of their political beliefs.
The charges against them included a string of robberies and attempted armored truck robberies in New York and Connecticut. Among them was the botched $1.6-million holdup of a Brink’s truck at a mall in suburban Rockland County. A guard and two Nyack, N. Y., police officers were killed in the bloody aftermath of the Oct. 20, 1981, robbery.
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