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Career criminal charged in 2009 Fenway cab company robbery

Print | Comments () Posted by John Ellement September 17, 2010 02:39 PM

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By Brian Ballou and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Nearly a year after a Fenway taxi company office was robbed at gunpoint, a Roxbury career criminal is charged with partnering with a convicted murderer to commit the theft, authorities said today.

Marvin Smith, 54, was kept out of the courtroom during his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court today where not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf to armed robbery and unlawful gun possession charges.

According to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conleys office and Boston police, Smith and convicted murderer Gerald Hill wore masks and were armed with handguns when they stormed into the offices of Boston Cab Co. on Kilmarnock Street last Nov. 5.

A taxi company was pistol-whipped and the two men stole tens of thousands of dollars in cash before driving off in a stolen car. The men dumped the car in the Fenway, got into a taxi -- and were arrested stopped by Boston police. Hill was arrested by police, who recovered $21,500 in cash, two handguns, and clothing worn by the robbers.

The second suspect escaped.

But one piece of clothing drew close attention from police – a red Nike baseball cap found in the rear seat of the taxi the men used as a getaway car, according to police and prosecutors.

A DNA sample was collected from the headband inside the cap, and the genetic profile was submitted to the law enforcement database known as CODIS. Prosecutors allege Smith's DNA profile – already in the system after repeated felony convictions – matched the genetic profile found inside the cap.

He was arrested in Blackstone Thursday night, police said. In court today, his defense attorney, Bruce W. Carroll, said Smith has been driving trucks for a living after earning his trucker's license by attending a tractor trailer driving school.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Phil O'Brien said in court that Smith is a career criminal who has been sentenced to state prison following armed robbery convictions at least three times since 1989. He was last convicted of armed robbery in 2002, prosecutor said.

Hill has pleaded not guilty and is being held awaiting trial.Hill was convicted of participating in the armed robbery that also ended in the murder of an oil delivery man in Roxbury in 1978 and for the 1977 stabbing of a man in the South End.

Hill was released from prison on parole in 2009 – and was accused of participating in the Fenway robbery 67 days later.