On February 26, 1981 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Joey Coyle, an unemployed longshoreman, had been travelling with his friends and co-workers John Behlau and Jed Pennock, when he discovered two canvas bags on the side of a road, roughly one block from Purolator Armored Services. Both bags had been picked up from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and contained $1.2 million in $100 bills. They had fallen from one of Purolator's armored vans, on the Swanson and Porter Streets in South Philadelphia after the driver hit a speed bump.^[3][4][5][6] That night, Philadelphia Police Detective Pat Laurenzi began a neighborhood search after two eyewitnesses reported the make and model of the vehicle that Behlau was driving, a 1971 Chevrolet Malibu, and a person with their hands full entering the vehicle before it drove off.^[5] The FBI was later brought in to aid the investigation.^[4]

Coyle gave away portions of the cash to family, friends and strangers, in addition to supporting his drug addiction to methamphetamines.^[5][6] He later met with another friend, Carl Masi, who learned from a radio scanner that police had issued a search for Belhau's car. After abandoning the vehicle in Gloucester City, New Jersey, Masi warned Coyle to turn the money in to police.^[6] Coyle refused, and days later he allegedly met with Mario Riccobene, a member of the Philadelphia crime family who was to instruct him on how to properly handle the money. Coyle gave Riccobene $400,000, hoping the latter would have the $100 bills laundered down to smaller denominations by playing at a Las Vegas casino.^[5][6][7][8] After more than 500 tips from eyewitnesses, Laurenzi received a police report of Behlau's car in Gloucester City.^[5] Belhau and Pennock later turned themselves in to the police, both revealing how Coyle found the money, as well as his interractions with Masi.^[4]

Coyle decided to leave town in fear of being caught by police or hunted by other mobsters. He turned to his friend Francis A. Santos, who bought him a plane ticket and spent the night with him in New York City.^[4][7] On March 3, 1981, both men were arrested by FBI agents at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. At the time of his arrest, Coyle was attempting to check in for a flight to Acapulco, Mexico. He was carrying $105,000 in 21 envelopes (each containing $5,000) that were stuffed inside a pair of cowboy boots he was wearing.^[3][4] Roughly $1,003,400 of the missing money was recovered; the remainder was never found.^[5] Belhau, Pennock and Masi were not charged.^[3]

Aftermath edit

Coyle was charged with theft, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution with a maximum sentence of seven years.^{[4][5][9][10]} Santos received an accessory charge that was ultimately dropped.^[9][11] During trial, Coyle's lawyer Harold Kane argued that his client's actions upon discovering the money were motivated by insanity and not greed. On March 5, 1982, a jury found Coyle innocent by reason of temporary insanity.^[12]

In April 1983, Coyle filed a lawsuit against Purolator, claiming that the company's negligence in not properly securing the money was the cause of his insanity. The suit, filed at a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, asked for $20,000 in damages.^[12] The following June, a federal judge dismissed the case, ruling that Coyle's mental injuries were caused by his own "weak" character.^[13]

In 1986, journalist Mark Bowden interviewed Coyle, as well as family and friends closest to him about their experiences. His article "Finders Keepers" was published as a three-part serial for The Philadelphia Inquirer in December 1986.^[14][15] Bowden later adapted the article into a 2002 book titled Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man who Found $1 Million.^[16]

For much of his adult life, Coyle struggled with drug addiction, and had become despondent over the death of his mother in 1981.^[17] On August 15, 1993, Coyle was found dead from an apparent suicide by hanging in his South Philadelphia home.^[15]

• Money for Nothing at IMDb