A man linked to a 1995 robbery in West Palm Beach was sentenced in a New Hampshire court on Friday to life in prison for a string of bank and armored car robberies in which two guards were killed.
Steven Burke, 42, was one of five men convicted in December of racketeering, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, carjacking and firearms offenses. Three of the defendants, including Burke, were sentenced to life terms on Friday.
During the trial, FBI experts testified DNA tests linked Burke to a 1995 robbery in West Palm Beach.
All five defendants are from the Charlestown section of Boston, an area known for its “code of silence.” An intense investigation after the 1994 killings of the two guards in Hudson, N.H., enabled the government to produce a string of witnesses who violated the code.
Burke accused the FBI and prosecutors of giving money, drugs and other incentives to witnesses in exchange for testimony.
“We never had a chance in this trial. We were railroaded. This trial was a charade, a farce, a New Hampshire-style lynching,” Burke said before he was sentenced.
