Photo Courtesy of Kay Jewelers
The couple targeted three elderly Flushing residents to rob of their gold necklaces.
By Forum Staff
A Dutchess County couple have pleaded guilty to grand larceny as a hate crime and were sentenced to nine months in jail for separately targeting three elderly Flushing residents – ranging in age from 68 to 81 – to rob of their gold necklaces, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. The three incidents took place between March and April of this year.
Marcideza Dumitru, 29, and her husband, Constantin Miclescu, 30, appeared in court last week and entered guilty pleas to fourth-degree grand larceny as a hate crime. Dumitru and Miclescu, who have been held in jail in lieu of $30,000 and $20,000 bail, respectively, since their arrest early last month, were immediately sentenced to nine months in jail.
According to the criminal charges, Dumitru approached her victims – all of whom were wearing gold necklaces – on separate occasions and engaged them in conversation before place a yellow metal necklace around their necks and then leaving. Once she had departed, the victims observed that their gold necklaces were missing from around their necks. Video surveillance in each incident showed Dumitru speaking with her victims and then getting into the front passenger seat of a vehicle. In the last incident on April 18, Dumitru was seen getting into a gray Infiniti QX30, which was rented in her husband Miclescu’s name.
During the commission of the crimes, Miclescu was wearing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ankle bracelet equipped with a GPS device. The tracks were subpoenaed by the City Police Department’s Financial Crimes Task Force and reviewed, placing Miclescu at each of the crime locations.
“The defendants’ guilty pleas ensure that the victims of their crimes, which were motivated by hate, will receive justice,” Brown said. “Hate crimes – whether motivated by age, sexual orientation, gender, religious or ethnic bias – will never be tolerated in Queens County.”
