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Keith Perry, 39, took a deal from prosecutors rather than risk the consequences of a trial, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Tuesday, March 14.
Perry was among several people arrested in April 2021 for dozens of burglaries committed over the previous six months in nine New Jersey counties — Morris, Bergen, Essex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Union, Passaic, Monmouth, and Middlesex — as well as in lower New York State.
SEE: Multi-Agency Probe Ties Quartet To 84 Burglaries In Eight NJ Counties, Rockland
Two associates who were charged with him -- Porsche Brown, 31, of Lodi, and Kay Brown, 24, of Paterson – got probation last Friday, March 10, in return for their July 2021 guilty pleas to burglary in Superior Court in Morristown, Platkin said.
The likelihood that either or both could’ve testified against Perry if he’d gone to trial likely affected Perry’s decision to take the hit.
SEE: Attention Centers On Accused Mastermind Of 84 Brazen Burglaries In Nine NJ Counties, Rockland
Authorities originally charged Perry with promoting organized street crime, conspiracy and 17 counts of burglary -- one of them while armed -- among other offenses.
He, in turn, pleaded guilty to the organized crime charge last November.
Perry’s mixed-gender burglary crew operated far and wide. Members forced their way in through a door, usually in the afternoon or early evening, ran to the master bedroom and other areas of the house and fled with valuables, investigators said.
They were brazen, too, targeting homes that were occupied when they broke in.
This “could easily have escalated into violence,” said New Jersey State Police Supt. Col. Patrick J. Callahan said.
Perry, in fact, threatened an Englewood homeowner who found he’d broken in by "making a motion with his hand inside his sweatshirt as though he had a gun" and saying, “I’ll shoot you,”
SEE: Home Invasion: Robber Threatens to Shoot Englewood Owner, Police Say
All told, well over half a million dollars in cash, jewelry, and other valuables was swiped in the spree, authorities said.
Porsche Brown hocked a “significant” amount of the stolen jewelry at a pawn shop in Vineland, a grand jury indictment returned in Trenton says.
Dozens of local police departments and other law enforcement agencies worked with their state colleagues to dismantle the ring.
A car crash in Hackensack and an alert officer in Cedar Grove played huge roles.
Investigators armed with a search warrant found proceeds from one of the burglaries in a Mercedes-Benz GL 450 that Perry crashed in March, according to the indictment.
Perry was later arrested in North Carolina by a U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force. He was extradited to New Jersey and has remained in state custody ever since.
Instead of local police investigating each burglary in isolation, more than 40 law enforcement agencies teamed up to take on the ring.
Leading the way were the state Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police and police from New Milford, Teaneck, and Verona, assisted by the Essex and Somerset county prosecutor’s offices and a host of municipal police departments (listed below).
The lead investigators:
• NJ State Police (NJSP): Detective Sgt. Brian Kearns and Investigators Erica Benedetti and Jessica Butt;
• NJ Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ): Detectives Scott Caponi and Sang Han;
• Verona PD: Detective Thomas J. Conroy III;
• New Milford PD: Capt. Kevin Van Saders, Detective Lt. Nelson Perez, Detective Sgt. Derek Mattessich, Sgt. Brian Carlino and Officer Adam Conboy;
• Teaneck PD: Detective Gabriel Santiago;
• DCJ Detective Shawn Gorlin, who is a member of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, led the fugitive investigation
Platkin also cited participating police departments from:
Bedminster, Berkeley Heights, Bernardsville, Boonton, Bridgewater, Cedar Grove, Clarkstown (NY), Clinton Township, Englewood, Fairview, Glen Rock, Hackensack, Haledon, Harrington Park, Holmdel, Little Falls, Livingston, Madison, Manalapan, Marlboro, Milburn, Monroe, Montclair, Montville, North Caldwell, North Haledon, Northvale, Paramus, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pearl River (NY), Randolph, Tenafly, Totowa, Warren Township, Washington Township (Bergen County), Watchung, Wayne, West Orange, Woodcliff Lake and Wyckoff.
Deputy Attorney General Matthew Lafargue was the lead prosecutor with assistance from Deputy Attorneys General Gezim Bajrami and Danielle Scarduzio.
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