Two Pennsylvania men have been sentenced to nine years in prison each for breaking into a Long Island home while disguised as construction workers, then stealing about $1 million in cash and property, officials said Friday.
Dejuan Michaels, 31, and Daiquan Smith, 30, pleaded guilty last month to one count of burglary and one count of grand larceny, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
Michaels, Smith and two other men arrived at the Valley Stream home shortly after 7 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2023, after the homeowner left for work, prosecutors said.
While dressed as construction workers, the defendants entered the home by breaking a rear window. At around 8:50 a.m., one of the men climbed out through that window and returned roughly 30 minutes later with a hand truck.
Surveillance footage later showed all four men leaving the home with two safes on the hand truck containing cash, firearms, Rolex watches and other property valuing about $1 million.
According to investigators, Michaels later used his cellphone to take photos of himself and Smith posing in a Pennsylvania warehouse with the stolen goods on the same day as the burglary, while wearing the same clothing captured on surveillance video outside the victim’s home.
“These defendants thought they could outsmart law enforcement. … But through terrific detective work by investigators and my prosecutors and the defendants’ own hubris, these men now find themselves heading to prison,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
Both Michaels and Smith were arrested by U.S. Marshals in April 2024 and pleaded guilty to burglary and larceny on Sept. 22 of this year. On Friday, they were each sentenced to nine years in prison.
Co-defendant Tehron Green, 45, was arrested by detectives from Montgomery County, Pa. in March of this year. He has also pleaded guilty to the same charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 3.
The fourth suspect remains at large, officials said.
