The man identified as the “Ninja Burglar” has been caught and apparently confessed to his nearly 150 burglaries that have occurred since 2005. The 46-year-old man was arrested on felony charges for breaking into homes in the middle of the night, dressed in the attire of a Ninja, and stealing from bedrooms while the occupants often were sleeping. One of the areas where he specialized his illegal craft was in upstate New York.
The man’s guilty plea was apparently scheduled to take place in a New York court, according to police. The authorities say that he has admitted to the burglaries and has even described his various techniques to them. However, they have charged him with only three crimes due to the statute of limitations.
Having the defendant’s cooperation in a plea deal is a significant benefit to the prosecution as it will not have to accumulate a large amount of evidence to try and prove the offenses. It may be that the cooperation of the accused has something to do with the small number of crimes charged. It is unknown at this time whether his admissions to the police and the court will result in a reduced sentence or in a punitive sentence that takes into account all of his prior misdeeds.
Modern sentencing structures in New York and other states allow for prior bad deeds to be computed in arriving at a score for sentencing severity. In that respect, he may end up with a draconian sentence that goes beyond the three felony charges for which he is charged. It more likely, however, that the failure to prove the remaining alleged crimes will work to the defendant’s benefit in obtaining a relatively moderate sentence in comparison to the volume of criminal activity he admittedly perpetrated.
Source: wishtv.com, “New York’s ninja burglar arrested after a decade“, April 21, 2016
