By Kathianne Boniello
Two Queens men were among 15 suspects charged last month with taking part in a $7 million burglary ring in Queens, Long Island, Connecticut and upstate New York, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said.
Neil Reilly, 32, of 15-83 208th St. in Bayside, and Anthony Petrone, 24, of 101-39 103rd St. in Ozone Park, were among those charged with stealing millions from 15 businesses and one home in Queens, Nassau County, Connecticut and upstate over the past seven years, U.S. Attorney Alan Vinegrad said in a July 31 news release.
A joint investigation among the U.S. Attorney’s office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police departments, including the New York Police Department and police departments on Long Island, helped crack the burglary enterprise, Vinegrad said.
“The combined efforts of the FBI and police departments have resulted in the apprehension of 15 defendants who stole millions of dollars of property from the businesses and residence they victimized,” Vinegrad said. The ring operated between March 1995 and May 2001, the U.S. Attorney’s office said, and took in more than $7 million dollars overall.
The 15 suspects, who also hail from New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Long Island, allegedly entered a business they intended to rob by cutting holes in the roofs or by breaking through the wall, Vinegrad’s office said. The suspects face up to 15 years in prison on charges of conspiring to transport and receive stolen property and transporting and receiving stolen property, Vinegrad said.
The burglary ring allegedly cut phone lines to the premises they robbed, the U.S. attorney said, and used walkie-talkies and police scanners during their break-ins.
Reilly is accused of taking part in one robbery on Long Island in April 2000 in which he and four others allegedly stole more than $1 million in cash and jewelry, Vinegrad’s office said.
In another action involving the U.S. attorney’s office last month, another pair of Queens men were arrested and charged with taking part in a government bribery scheme in which they and four others allegedly received kickbacks for construction contracts at federal buildings.
George Argyrios Lemonis, 56, of 75-29 197th St. in Fresh Meadows, and Evangelos Montesantos, 52, of 56-04 East Hampton Blvd. in Bayside, were charged in the bribery scheme, Vinegrad said.
Montesantos faces up to 15 years in prison for the charges, while Lemonis could get a two-year prison sentence, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
