RI men charged with participating in alleged burglary ring
Authorities on Friday arrested four Rhode Island men who allegedly participated in a sophisticated burglary ring that mostly targeted the homes of people of Indian and otherwise South Asian descent, state police said.
The suspects allegedly broke into or burglarized 43 homes in 25 communities, including North Attleboro, Seekonk, Sharon, Franklin, Easton and Bellingham and others in Eastern Massachusetts between 2018 and 2024. The men were identified as Paul Miller, 46, of Woonsocket; his two sons, Jovan Lemon, 29, of Providence and Paul Lemon, 30, of Warwick; and Steven Berdugo, 28, of Providence.
A statement from Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Massachusetts State Police Col. John Mawn Jr. described the defendants are part of an organized burglary ring with ties to a violent Providence-based gang known to law enforcement agencies in Rhode Island.
They were arrested in a series of raids in Rhode Island Friday morning. They waived court rendition proceedings and are being held at the Middlesex County House of Correction pending arraignments next week, state police said.
The residents of the majority of the homes were targeted based on of their ethnicity and the belief that their households were more likely to contain precious metals, jewelry and other valuable heirlooms, according to state police.
In North Attleboro, local police said two homes close to each other and owned by individuals of Indian descent were broken into in April 2023. The thieves used a collapsible ladder to enter second-floor windows, according to police.
North Attleboro police Capt. Jason Roy said last
July that police had surveillance video and shared information from their investigation with other law enforcement agencies.
The arrests of the suspects were the result of a “painstaking investigation” by the Massachusetts State Police Fusion Center, including its MACrimeNet intelligence sharing program, said David Procopio, a state police spokesman.
Also involved were the state police unit assigned to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, dozens of municipal police departments as well as Rhode Island and Connecticut state police and the U.S. Marshals Service.
The defendants were indicted April 18 by a grand jury and are being prosecuted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, according to Procopio.
They face 95 counts of unarmed burglary and breaking and entering into a dwelling in the daytime with intent to commit a felony, Procopio said.