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Brandi Wickliffe, age 46, of the town of Newburgh, pleaded guilty on Thursday, April 7, under a plea agreement that will recommend she serve six to eight years in state prison, said the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say that in January 2020, Wickliffe entered a home in the town of Newburgh and stole an X-Box gaming system. After stealing the property, Wickliffe sold the system at a store in Poughkeepsie.
A few days later, Wickliffe broke into a different home in the town of Newburgh and stole various items of jewelry, said the DA's Office.
After an investigation by the town of Newburgh Police Department, Wickliffe was developed as a suspect and later identified on surveillance video from the crimes, as well as in video from the store where she sold the X-Box, the DA's Office said.
One day before her trial was set to start in March, Wickliffe failed to appear in court and told court staff that she had contracted COVID-19, the DA's Office said.
To support her claim, she submitted forged documents showing a positive result to excuse her absence. It was quickly learned the documents were fake, they added.
“This defendant’s brazen conduct is as stunning as it is reprehensible,” said Orange County District Attorney Dave Hoovler. “That the defendant would invade the homes of two families for her own benefit is egregious enough. However, that she would compound her crimes by attempting to mislead the court with forged documents is beyond the pale.”
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