On Tuesday, three men were convicted for stealing 483 ancient Celtic gold coins from the Kelten Römer Museum in Manching, Germany, in November 2022.
The coins were discovered during an excavation at an archaeological town near Manching in 1999. They are thought to date back the 3rd century BCE and are valued at approximately several million euros (though the material is only worth about €250,000, or about $278,000).
As part of the heist, the thieves cut off the telephone service and internet connection for the entire city of Manching so that the institution was unable to contact local authorities while the event was taking place.
The four men were arrested last summer in northern Germany, following a police search of 28 homes, businesses, vehicles, and a boathouse.
One of the suspects was found in possession of a plastic bag filled with gold that matched the composition of the stolen Celtic coins, indicating that some had been melted down, with 70 of the coins reportedly lost.
Using DNA evidence, investigators also linked three of the four men to a string of robberies across both Germany and Austria dating back to 2014.
A court in Ingolstadt convicted the four defendants of gang robbery; one was acquitted of involvement in the Kelten Römer Museum heist, but was convicted for other thefts associated with the group, according to the Associated Press.
The charges were not addressed during the six-month-long trial. The defendants’ lawyers, however, called for their acquittal.
The court individually sentenced the men to prison sentences ranging from four years and nine months to 11 years.
