A DUI on a snowy morning helped unlock crime ring, public filings show

Jun. 16—The maroon Pontiac slid along a snow-covered state Route 307.

Trooper Michael Thomas and Sgt. Robert Lombardo pulled behind and activated their emergency lights. It was a few hours before dawn on March 4, 2019.

There, on a slick patch of highway not far from Bailor Road in Covington Twp., a decadeslong crime spree hit the skids.

Inside the car, Thomas Trotta — eyes bloodshot and speech slurred — soon provided authorities investigating the burglaries with what would be a critical piece of evidence: a DNA sample that matched profiles at numerous break-ins.

On Thursday, more than four years and three months from that unassuming traffic stop, U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam and representatives from the FBI and state police announced charges against nine people for their roles in burglaries throughout the United States.

Trotta agreed to plead guilty to a count of theft of major artwork, according to an agreement he signed in March.

DNA evidence helped the state police file criminal charges in Lackawanna County Court for several break-ins and thefts reported at businesses and homes.

Public court filings found in those, and other related cases, helped assemble a picture of a yearslong investigation that led to the unsealing of indictments Thursday.

"It's a testament to all of the agencies represented here today," Col. Christopher Paris, state police commissioner, said during the news conference. "And the state police is very proud to play a role in that."

Back in 2018, burglary investigators were presented with a curious pattern.

DNA evidence found at crime scenes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York indicated they potentially might be from the same person, but they could not say for sure who.

According to court filings, investigation of those burglaries turned up surveillance photos of the thief and a vehicle believed involved: a maroon Pontiac.

In March, 2018, that Pontiac surfaced during a 2:37 a.m. traffic stop for suspicion of DUI, according to public filings.

In the trunk, the state police discovered bolt cutters, a sledge hammer, headlamp style flashlights and several ski masks.

The Pontiac was registered to Lisa Brown, of Taylor. On March 5, 2019, the state police interviewed her and fiancé, Frank Tassiello.

Tassiello, now 50, is one of the nine people revealed Thursday to face charges in the federal burglary-ring case. According to a criminal information unsealed Thursday, Tassiello tagged along for 2018 break-ins at Space Farms: Zoo & Museum in Wantage, New Jersey and Basic Irish Luxury in Newport, Rhode Island.

At the time, however, Brown merely told state police she let her cousin, Trotta, use the vehicle.

During an interview with troopers, Trotta drank water from a plastic cup then discarded it, court filings show. The state police swabbed the cup for DNA.

Meanwhile, burglary investigations from Pennsylvania to Rhode Island started to show striking similarities. DNA profiles obtained by human blood found at the scenes showed the same person had been there.

Several of those scenes would be break-ins alleged to have been committed by some of those charged in the burglary ring revealed Thursday. Those break-ins include: the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey; the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York; and the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York.

By the end of March 2018, the state police began to charge Trotta for local burglaries. On March 24, they took Trotta into custody and obtained a search warrant for more of his DNA.

Then, on April 5, 2019, Trotta began to cooperate. During a series of interviews, he gave them information on several co-conspirators who helped him over the years plan and perform "numerous criminal incidents," according to a search warrant application found amid public filings.

Nicholas Dombek was his main accomplice, he revealed.

Dombek, 53, of Thornhurst Twp., is a fugitive, sought on federal charges of theft of major artwork, conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork, concealment and disposal of major artwork and interstate transportation of stolen property.

According to Trotta's interviews with investigators, unveiled in public filings, burglaries would be rehearsed in Dombek's Thornhurst Twp. garage. He and Dombek experimented with gunpowder and explosives to burn and destroy vehicles used in the crimes.

Much of what they stole would be cut up and melted in Dombek's garage, according to Trotta's statement.

Some of the stolen gems did not get sold. Dombek had been crafting a "scepter" using them, Trotta said.

On Aug. 27, 2019, state police served a search warrant on Dombek's property on Dombek Drive.

Inside, they found artwork, tools, jewelry, a golden scepter, precious metals and a copy of "The Anarchist Cookbook" — the 1971 manual for homemade explosives — among other items, according to an inventory of what they found.,

Both Trotta and Dombek faced state charges.

Dombek pleaded no contest to burglary and witness intimidation and was sentenced in August to 15 to 30 months in Lackawanna County Prison.

By the end of May , criminal charges in six cases brought against Trotta in Lackawanna County Court were settled. In total, he pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, three counts of theft and one count of DUI.

He was sentenced May 24 to one to three years in prison but was awarded credit for the roughly 1,400 days he already had spent in custody.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.

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