Federal authorities have disclosed additional details and unsealed charges related to the theft of over 2 million dimes earlier this year. The coins were taken from a tractor-trailer that had picked up the dimes from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
The truck driver was en route to Miami and parked to rest on April 13 when thieves seized part of the cargo, which consisted of $750,000 in dimes, weighing approximately six tons, as previously reported by authorities.
Thousands of dimes were left scattered throughout a parking lot in northeast Philadelphia.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, prosecutors now assert that the theft, amounting to $234,500 in stolen dimes, was part of a series of robberies from tractor-trailers traveling through the region. The thieves also took frozen crab legs, shrimp, meat, beer, and liquor.
Surveillance video revealed six men dressed in gray hoodies, armed with bolt cutters, approaching the truck in the middle of the night. They broke into the truck, loaded the coins into smaller bags, and transferred them to a waiting vehicle.
The recently unsealed indictment alleges that after the theft, thousands of dimes were converted into cash using coin machines in Maryland or deposited into at least four different suburban Philadelphia banks.
Four individuals from Philadelphia—25-year-old Rakiem Savage, 31-year-old Ronald Byrd, 30-year-old Haneef Palmer, and 32-year-old Malik Palmer—face charges that include conspiracy, robbery, theft of government funds, and other offenses.
Requests for comments on the charges were sent to Savage and Malik Palmer’s attorneys on Monday. Court documents did not list attorneys for Byrd and Haneef Palmer, and attempts to reach the latter by phone were unsuccessful.