Three Rhode Island men pleaded guilty last week to a burglary ring that led to 43 break-ins across 25 Massachusetts towns between 2018 and 2024, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office said Tuesday.
Jovan Lemon, 30, and Steven Berdugo, 29, both of Providence, and Paul Lemon, 31, of Warwick, Rhode Island, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court, Ryan’s office said in a statement.
Jovan Lemon and Paul Lemon, along with another defendant, pleaded guilty to thirty-two counts of unarmed burglary and three counts of breaking and entering a dwelling house in the daytime with intent to commit a felony.
Berdugo pleaded guilty to seven counts of unarmed burglary.
“Today 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,” Ryan said in her statement. “The defendants believed that households of these families were more likely to contain precious metals, jewelry and other valuable heirlooms.”
Judge Patrick Haggan sentenced Jovan Lemon to 10 to 13 years in the Department of Correction, Ryan’s office said. Haggan sentenced Paul Lemon and Berdugo to nine to 12 years in the House of Correction.
The three men were indicted in April 18, 2024 for a scheme that targeted homes in Billerica, Boxboroudgh, Carlisle, Easton, Hopkinton, Lincoln, Weston, Sudbury, Andover, Bellingham, Boxford, Franklin, Hudson, Littleton, Medway, Middleton, Millis, North Attleborough, Norwell, Pembroke, Seekonk, Sharon, Southborough, Wenham and Westwood between July 21, 2018, and March 30, 2024, Ryan’s office said.
Items stolen during this period included large quantities of cash and a jewelry set with diamonds and other gems, the statement read. These items were, in several instances, secured in locked safes that weighed up to 400 pounds. Stolen individual items are valued at around $75,000, but the aggregated reported value exceeds $4 million.
“These defendants were disciplined about concealing their identity and used technology, including Wi-Fi jammers, to execute their plans,” Ryan said in her statement. “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.”
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