CONCORD, N.H. -- Nearly a decade after a tightknit gang of armored car robbers launched a reign of terror across New England -- relying on a neighborhood "code of silence" to protect them -- a federal jury yesterday convicted five Charlestown men of committing a total of 55 crimes in four states.

After more than 30 hours of deliberations in US District Court, the jury found the men guilty of a dozen armed-robbery conspiracies, including the infamous 1994 raid of an armored car in Hudson, N.H., that left two men dead and sparked a massive, 18-month manhunt.

The five defendants -- Stephen Burke, Patrick McGonagle, Anthony Shea, Michael O'Halloran and Matthew McDonald -- face sentences of life in prison without parole. US District Judge Stephen McAuliffe scheduled a sentencing hearing for April 2.

Law enforcement officials involved in the case said the jury's verdicts helped "ensure the safety of New England," ending criminal careers that stretched as far back as 1975.

But prosecutors also hoped the convictions sent a sweeping message to Charlestown, a community that, because of its fear and reluctance to help police, has harbored an unusually high number of bank robbers over the past 25 years.

"Charlestown will never be the same," said federal prosecutor David Vicinanzo. "The code of silence there, if not dead, is at least moribund."

The defendants, all Charlestown men between the ages of 34 and 57, took turns standing silently as each guilty verdict against them was read aloud.

Of the 56 charges the men faced, only one -- a carjacking charge against McGonagle, 57 -- was returned not guilty. But McGonagle still faces a life sentence because he was found guilty of four other felony charges, including three in connection with the Hudson armored car robbery.

Defense attorneys for all five men said they plan to appeal.

After the verdicts were read, relatives of Ronald Normandeau, one of the Hudson heist victims, burst out of the courtroom and quietly hugged one another in the hallway.

"Guilty on all counts!" said Betty Normandeau, the victim's widow, smiling broadly as she emerged from the courtroom.

Her daughter, Tammy Normandeau, also cried after the verdict was read. Reached by phone later, she described the outcome as "just terrific."

"I am very, very happy," she said, her voice choked with emotion.

According to prosecutors and evidence presented during the trial, the unnamed criminal gang began its modern-day violent spree in 1990, when two of the men -- Shea and McDonald -- plotted the armed robbery of a Bank of New England branch in Charlestown. Within a year, the two men had become associated with the rest of the gang, including Burke, its alleged mastermind.

During the next four years, the gang committed a string of carefully-planned armed robberies of banks and armored cars in northern Massachusetts and southern New England. But the roots of the group -- a gritty association fueled by hard drugs and a taste for violence -- stretched back much further.

Prosecutor Michael J. Connolly said Shea and McDonald knew each other from their childhoods in Charlestown, and Burke and O'Halloran were also boyhood friends from the neighborhood. Starting with their joint arrest for robbery in the mid-1970s, Burke and O'Halloran had aspired to become professional criminals.

"They knew each other on the street and in prison," said prosecutor Vicinanzo. "They shared skills and techniques, and there has been a culture in Charlestown that promoted that."

They apparently pulled off over 100 robberies and stole several million dollars.

Perhaps their most brazen robbery was on August 25, 1994, when two Northeast Armored Transport guards, Normandeau, 52, and Laurence Johnson, 57, were killed execution-style. But the men were not charged with murder because no eyewitnesses could clearly identify them.

That robbery, which prosecutor Vicinanzo described yesterday as "one of the most brutal and unconscionable evil acts that New England has witnessed in recent times," sparked a massive regional manhunt that ultimately revealed a high number of bank robberies linked to Charlestown.

But prosecutors were able to pursue the 56 other charges -- including racketeering, felony possession of a firearm and armed robbery -- largely because a number of Charlestown criminals were persuaded to "break the code of silence" and testify against their former associates.

Nine former Charlestown criminals testified for the prosecution during the trial, Vicinanzo said, including Burke's older brother.

"There has been nothing but fear of reprisal in Charlestown in the last couple of years," Vicinanzo said. "It was essentially a community under siege by terrorists. But we're not going to let that happen again."

The effects of the arrest of the five men have already begun to become apparent, according to Barry Mawn, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office.

Between 1992 and 1993, there were 14 armored car robberies in New England. But since 1996, there have been only four.

"An effect of their arrest and their detention, and now their conviction, is that it has sent a message to other criminal groups," Mawn said. "We feel confident that the number of armored car robberies has been reduced. And it will continue to do so."

Several defense lawyers said they were "very disappointed" by the verdict. Matthew Lahey, who represented McDonald, said he was surprised the jury voted to convict, "particularly given the length of the deliberations."

But federal, state and local law enforcement officials from Massachusetts and New Hampshire -- 12 of whom gathered for a press conference after the verdict -- said they had expected convictions since they brought the indictments, which had been painstakingly prepared over an 18-month period.

Though the wives of several defendants had appeared for much of the trial, only one relative, McGonagle's daughter Shelley, appeared in court yesterday for the verdict.

She said she had hoped her father would be acquitted, and watched quietly in a back row as officers led her father away. Afterward, she said simply: "I'm not doing too good."

SIDEBAR 1.

Robberies in the case

Robberies in the indictment, approximate amount stolen, if known; and the defendants named in each robbery:

- July 28, 1995: Fall River Five-Cent Savings Bank, Fall River; Shea, Burke.

- May 11, 1995: Brinks armored car, West Palm Beach, Fla.; $122,000; Shea, Burke.

- Aug. 25, 1994: Northeast Armored Transport Inc. armored car, Hudson, N.H.; $500,000; Shea, McDonald, O'Halloran, Burke, McGonagle.

- March 1994: Wells Fargo armored car, Chestnut Hill; Shea, O'Halloran, McDonald, Burke.

- Jan. 25, 1994: Wells Fargo armored car, Charlestown; Shea, O'Halloran, McDonald, Burke.

- May 4, 1993: Manchester Security Services armored car, Seabrook, N.H.; $280,000; Shea, O'Halloran, Burke.

- Dec. 22, 1992: Transit Systems Inc. armored car, Lynn; $500,000-$600,000; Shea, O'Halloran, Burke.

- Feb. 27, 1992: Bank of Boston, Newton; Shea, McDonald.

- Late 1991: Banks and armored cars in Fall River; Shea, McDonald, Burke.

- Dec. 5, 1991: Pioneer Finance Cooperative Bank, Malden; $95,000; Shea, McDonald.

- 1991: Banks and armored cars in Connecticut and Rhode Island; Shea, McDonald.

- March 15, 1990: Bank of New England, Charlestown; Shea, McDonald. ASSOCIATED PRESS

SIDEBAR 1.

Defendants in the trial

- Anthony Shea, 34, Charlestown, already sentenced in federal courts in Boston and Concord to 31 years in prison for attempted bank robbery in Wakefield, Mass., and 22 years for attempted bank robbery in Londonderry, N.H. Indicted on charges of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of robbery, two counts of use of a firearm during a violent crime, two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, one count of unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm, bank robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, carjacking. Married, two children.

- Stephen Burke, 41, Charlestown, racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, two counts conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of robbery, two counts of use of a firearm during a violent crime, two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of unlawful drug use in possession of a firearm, bank robbery, carjacking. Married, two children.

- Michael O'Halloran, 40, Charlestown, racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, two counts conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of robbery, two counts of use of a firearm during a violent crime, two counts felon in possession of a firearm, bank robbery, carjacking. One child.

- Matthew McDonald, 35, Charlestown and Revere, racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, bank robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, carjacking, use of a firearm during a violent crime, felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm. Divorced, one child.

- Patrick McGonagle, 58, Charlestown and Winthrop, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, bank robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, carjacking. Divorced, two children; third child deceased. (AP)

Idk about any of u fellas, but I liked that Ben Affleck Movie "The Town"...he was good, but fuckin Jeremy Renner was great...plus Blake Lively is fuckin smokin hot as a pill headed whore who wears short skirts and rides Bens dick, god is she sexy...but i digress

I thought the acting in this movie was tremendous. Definitely authentic and reminded me of the Townies that I got acquainted with at a local watering hole back on the early 90's. The plot was far fetched of course, robbing Fenway Park in broad daylight etc., but the acting was excellent.

Mike- I completely agree with you my friend, the acting was tremendous but ya taking down fuckin fenway was nutty... interesting that thes portrayals were authentic to townies...theres 2 character actors that are always amazing and have thick real Boston accents, the guy who played Dino the other Fed and the fat guy in the robbery crew, don’t recall their names, i could easily imdb em but too lazy lol