Queens Family Jailed In Burglary Spree Targeting Seniors

QUEENS, NY -- Three Queens family members were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for a string of burglaries targeting senior homeowners across the borough, prosecutors said.

Tony Cristo, 37, his ex-wife Teresa Howard, 38, and sister Rosie Cristo, 34, were sentenced Tuesday after each pleaded guilty earlier this month to robbing elderly residents in Flushing, Jackson Heights and Maspeth during the summer of 2016, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

"The defendants, in some instances, pretended to be a granddaughter or a former neighbor to gain entry and at times would be accompanied by a pre-teen girl to distract the homeowners and steal their money and valuables," Brown said.

In the first heist on July 25, 2016, an perp who's still at large walked into a 91-year-old woman's Flushing home through an unlocked door and claimed to be her granddaughter, according to a criminal complaint. Minutes later, the homeowner's actual daughter walked in and confronted the girl and escorted her out of the home, where she saw her get into a green Pontiac driven by Tony Cristo.

Less than two weeks later, the trio targeted an 83-year-old woman's Maspeth home on Aug. 10, 2016, court records state. The woman said Howard and Rosie Cristo rang her doorbell with a 10-year-old child and asked to speak with the upstairs tenant, but left a note when he was unavailable. When they left, the homeowner realized her purse - which held $60 cash, photos, ID and insurance cards - was missing.

That same morning, Howard showed up to an elderly couple's Jackson Heights home with a nine-year-old and two at-large perps and asked to look at construction work, claiming to be old neighbors. After they left, the woman realized $6,400 was missing from the top drawer of her dresser, according to the charges.

The trio targeted two more Flushing homes in the coming weeks, once on Aug. 20 and again on Aug. 26. Charges for all three were enhanced to hate crimes for allegedly picking victims ages 60 and up, Brown said.

Tony Cristo and Theresa Howard, who both pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary as a hate crime, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of probation.

Rosie Cristo, who pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted burglary as a hate crime, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and two and a half years of probation.

Lead photo via Shutterstock