Four men were charged by federal authorities for allegedly breaking into a trailer in Philadelphia earlier this year that contained 2 million dimes.
The authorities say that 25-year-old Rakiem Savage and 31-year-old Ronald Byrd face charges of conspiracy, robbery, and theft of government funds. Haneef Palmer, 30 years old, and Malik Palmer, 32, also face these charges.
The truck containing dimes, according to authorities, was on its way from the U.S. Mint Philadelphia to Miami in Florida when the theft occurred on April 13th.
The driver had parked his trailer at Walmart during the night. There, the thieves gained access to it.
Authorities reported that the group stole a portion from its shipment of dimes worth $750,000, which weighed about six tons.
The police estimate that the group took $234,500 worth of dimes from the truck.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that prosecutors said that the theft was part of an ongoing spree of thefts from tractor-trailers that passed through the area. This included frozen crab legs and shrimp, as well as meat, beer, and liquor.
The detectives stated that the surveillance video at the time showed six men dressed in gray hoodies, armed with bolt-cutters, breaking into the truck and loading the coins in smaller bags into an awaiting truck.
The newspaper reported that the indictment, which was unsealed on Friday, alleges thousands of dimes had been converted to cash after the theft at coin machines in Maryland, or by depositing them at at least four different suburban Philadelphia bank accounts.
