Three Rhode Island men plead guilty in connection with a string of burglaries in Massachusetts.
“These three defendants pled guilty to their role in a sophisticated and calculated scheme that targeted victims based upon their ethnicity and caused fear and pain in our Indian and South Asian communities. The defendants believed that households of these families were more likely to contain precious metals, jewelry and other valuable heirlooms,” said District Attorney Ryan. “These defendants were disciplined about concealing their identity and used technology, including Wi-Fi jammers, to execute their plans. Despite these challenges, local law enforcement agencies worked diligently and collaboratively to identify the perpetrators and, in some cases, to recover a significant amount of jewelry and other property,” said District Attorney Ryan.
Prosecutors say Jovan Lemon, Paul Lemon and Steven Berdugo were involved in 43 break-ins across 25 towns in the Bay State from 2018 until 2024.
The men targeted homes they believed had precious metals inside as well as jewelry and other valuable heirlooms.
Some of the more than four-million-dollars in stolen property was able to be recovered.
(Photo: Middlesex County District Attorney's Office)