James Burke

James Burke (born James Conway), also known as Jimmy the Gent, and The Irishman (July 5, 1931 – April 13, 1996), was an American gangster and Lucchese crime family associate who is believed to have organized the 1978 Lufthansa heist, then the most lucrative cash theft in American history, and also believed to have orchestrated the murder of (or murdered) many of those involved in the months following. He is the father of small-time mobster and Lufthansa heist suspect, Frankie Burke, as well as of Jesse James Burke, Catherine Burke (who married Bonanno crime family member Anthony Indelicato in 1992), and another unidentified daughter.Burke inspired the character "Jimmy 'The Gent' Conway", one of the main antagonists in the 1990 movie Goodfellas. He died of lung cancer within Roswell Park Cancer Institute, located in Buffalo, NY; medically transferred from Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, NY in 1996 while serving 20 years to life for murder in a New York State prison. He would have been eligible for parole in 2004.

Personal facts

Birth dateJuly 05, 1931
Birth place
New York City , United States , New York
Date of deathApril 13, 1996
Place of death
Buffalo New York , United States

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