A New Jersey man convicted in federal court of breaking into a Wethersfield, Connecticut warehouse and stealing more than 8,000 cartons of cigarettes worth about $500,000 has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Andrew Oreckinto, 52, of Matawan, New Jersey, in February was convicted of theft from an interstate shipment and he was sentenced Monday to four years in prison, followed by three years of supevised release.
Prosecutors said surveillance cameras recorded Oreckinto – dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, black gloves, black facemask and a headband light -- breaking into New Britain Candy in Wethersfield in March 2011. A glue-like substance was used to disable door locks. Wires to an outside surveillance camera and a phone line were also cut.
Authorities linked Oreckinto to the theft by analyzing his prepaid cellphone and cell tower information.
Police said he stole a white box truck from a Hartford business before the robbery. Days later, the truck was found near a commercial construction site in Stamford.
Oreckinto has been serving a five-year prison term in New Jersey for stealing $100,000 worth of copper cable and selling it for scrap.
When police searched his car after the New Jersey theft, they found a list of licensed cigarette distributors in the State of Connecticut that had been printed from the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services web site. The list, which included the New Britain Candy warehouse in Wethersfield, also contained several handwritten notations next to many of the businesses, at least three of which also have been burglarized, according to federal authorities.
