• • •
Investigators believe Garcia and his partners, who are scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 30, committed 50 or more break-ins, making off with more than $600,000 in cash and property. That figure does not include the extensive damage inflicted upon properties during the crimes, according to Assistant District Attorney Bridget Kirn.
"There’s a whole other element to these crimes," Dembe said, "the willful desecration of people’s homes."
About 15 victims, including several police officers, attended the hearing, testifying that the crooks ransacked their homes — including children’s rooms — rooted through their personal and often private belongings and left them feeling violated and vulnerable.
In many instances, Garcia and his alleged partners took items that had relatively little monetary value but were irreplaceable to victims — items such as family heirlooms. Many have never been recovered.
"That is something that’s precious to us," Dembe said.
In one case, Garcia and his alleged accomplices injured a victim’s dog.
Meanwhile, they kept many items, such as CDs, DVDs and photographs, and lived with them as "trophies" of the crimes, Kirn said. They even kept an ATM that the bandits took from a local beverage distributor, lugged home and pried opened. As they split up the cash, they drank beer that they had also taken during the heist.
Among other missing items were wedding rings, foreign coins, two police badges and at least four handguns.
Garcia and alleged co-conspirator Gene McFadden, 37, of the 6100 block of Torresdale Ave., were arrested on Oct. 26, 2004. Police captured Garcia’s uncle, Rafael Garcia, 35, of the 2100 block of Tremont St., two days later. Luis DeJesus, 32, who lived with Carlos Garcia and has been identified as his mother’s boyfriend, was the last taken into custody on Nov. 15, 2004.
All were charged with about 50 burglaries. Carlos Garcia pleaded guilty to 40 burglaries last Oct. 20. It was an "open" plea with no commitment by the prosecution to request a more lenient sentence from the court.
Though the younger Garcia assisted in the early stages of the investigation, helping police identify locations that he burglarized, he has not agreed to testify at the trial of his accused partners and has not disclosed fully what he did with the stolen items, Kirn said.
Dembe also ordered him to pay $202,653.08 in restitution to victims, although she openly doubted his ability to raise that kind of money considering his long prison sentence.
• • •
The judge raised eyebrows in the courtroom after her ruling and a brief sidebar conference with the attorneys at McCullough’s request.
Dembe said that her sentence was "significantly longer than was originally under discussion" and took the rare step of advising the defendant of his right to request for a withdrawal of his guilty plea.
Normally, it’s up to a defense attorney to advise his client of that right. Garcia had 10 days from last Friday to file such a motion or to appeal the sentence.
"The defendant may choose to take his chances at trial," Dembe said.
If Garcia does request to withdrawal his plea, it will be handled at a separate hearing. If the request is granted, he would go on trial with his co-defendants, thereby nullifying last week’s proceedings.
Despite this, Kirn and victims were satisfied that they had accomplished what they wanted. Regardless of Garcia’s disposition, they all would have to return to court for the co-defendants’ trial, anyway.
"I don’t think it was a waste of time," said Dorothy Bathe.
"My accomplishment was to present how I felt, the detrimental psychological affects, as well as the forty thousand dollars in (stolen) jewelry that had been passed down through my family."
When she became a burglary victim, "it was like being raped, (them) going through my drawers."
Bathe believes that the bandits spent anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours in her home, tearing up the place.
"Looking at my room, they had to have been there a while," she said.
The crooks got inside by breaking through a steel security window. Then they put her dog outside. The pet has had an injured back since the crime.
"They know all the tricks," Bathe said.
Often, the burglars tampered with electric meters to disable home security systems, authorities said.
The burglars showed little or no mercy toward victims, regardless of circumstances, according to the prosecutor.
"Some of the homes, including homes of the elderly, were attacked multiple times," Kirn said. "And the defendant to this day still has not answered question number one, ‘Where is the other stuff?’"
• • •
Police testified to observing a dramatic decline in local burglary tallies after Garcia and his alleged partners were arrested.
"(Garcia) did hold the Northeast community at-bay," Kirn said.
Garcia had four prior juvenile commitments — the juvenile court version of a conviction — including criminal trespass. He was on probation for his juvenile violations until 2003, some two years into the burglary spree.
McCullough said that Garcia has a "very low" IQ, that he has had drug and alcohol problems and that he has "prostituted himself" as a result of his substance-abuse issues.
"Of the people (accused), he’s the youngest and most susceptible to being led," the defense attorney said.
Earlier, the defender had told the judge, "I know from my discussions (with Garcia) that he does have remorse in this matter."
Garcia pleaded for forgiveness.
"I am truly sorry for any and all of the harm that resulted from my actions," he said.
"I regret what I did and beg for forgiveness. … I pray that my sincere apology will be accepted one day." ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com