IN BRIEF (Page 9)

United States

Man acquitted in Lufthansa heist

Eighty-year-old Vincent Asaro threw his hands into the air and shouted "Free!" and grinned as he walked out of a New York City courthouse after his surprising acquittal on charges he helped plan the legendary 1978 Lufthansa heist, a robbery portrayed in the renowned 1990 movie Goodfellas. A federal jury reached the verdict on Thursday at a racketeering trial in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was a stunning defeat for the federal government.