A career criminal — who with his team of violent burglars staked out and invaded two New Canaan homes and dozens of others in 2011 and 2012 — was sentenced Friday, Feb. 27 to nearly three decades in federal prison.
As Paul DiBiase, also known as Carmine Stanzione Jr., received his sentence of 27 years, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos said what the group had done in its rash of home invasions — 27 admitted, including five gunpoint robberies — “borders on sadism.”
Also ordering DiBiase to pay back his joint share of $2.5 million in restitution for stolen jewelry, silver and other valuables, Ramos said the group had caused a “reign of terror” over the Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y. communities they targeted.
DiBiase, 59, of Poughquag, N.Y., and his brother, Daniel DiBiase, 58, also were involved in burglaries of Long Island Sound waterfront properties in the late 1980s. After Paul DiBiase had served time for that and been released in 2009, it wasn’t long before he was burglarizing homes again with Daniel — only this time they enlisted a new partner: Jason Foskey, now 36, of Stormville, N.Y.
When the three were charged several days after their arrest, FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Mary Galligan stated, “From New Canaan to North Castle [N.Y.], these alleged crooks held victims at gunpoint before tying them up in their own homes. Armed with firearms and body armor, these men conducted thorough surveillance before violating the sanctity of victims’ homes and ransacking their valuables with extreme violence.”
The New Canaan home invasions
From a 2012 police briefings
The suspects allegedly left a Ponus Ridge man tied up while they made off with silver and cash. A resident of the house was upstairs in his home on that Saturday night, Aug. 4, when he heard something downstairs. He went to check it out and found two masked men dressed all in black in his home.
When he confronted the intruders, he struggled as they bound his hands and feet with rope.
She said the assailants tied her hands behind her back and covered her face with a pillow while they searched her house. The house had been left unlocked, and did not have an active alarm system, police said.
A family member who was in the house called police. When officers arrived, the masked men fled, leaving with $14,000 worth of silverware and $200 in cash. The homeowner told police he felt a metal object by the back of his head as he was being tied up, but he didn’t see any weapons.
The men are also linked to the 2011 home invasion on Lambert Road on Saturday, Aug. 6. At least two men that morning left with $40,000 in silver and jewelry during the incident, which occurred just after midnight, according to police.
The 60-year-old victim, who reported the burglary at 1:05 a.m. that Saturday, told investigators she had been asleep and was awakened sometime after midnight by a male removing a bracelet from her arm, police said.
She said the assailants tied her hands behind her back and covered her face with a pillow while they searched her house. The house had been left unlocked, and did not have an active alarm system, police said.
After the men tied her up, police said she estimated they stayed around 40 minutes before leaving in a vehicle. The resident was able to extricate herself from the rope within a few minutes, police said, and called 911 once she was free.”
Sentencing and reaction
While Paul DiBiase got 27 years and his portion of the $2.5 million to repay, he’ll share that financial restitution order with Daniel DiBiase, who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Foskey cooperated with the prosecution and was charged only as a co-conspirator, and is de-identified in the FBI’s latest release and referenced as “CC-1.”
Paul DiBiase pleaded guilty on June 20, 2014, to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, “after having been convicted of three separate, violent felonies,” the FBI stated. Daniel DiBiase pleaded guilty on Feb. 24, 2014, to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of aiding and abetting the brandishing of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
“This case was federally prosecuted, since the DiBiase brothers crossed state lines and committed 27 home invasions/robberies in New York and Connecticut,” New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski stated in an email following the sentencing.
“I am exceptionally proud of the way in which our officers investigated these crimes and shared information with the FBI, which led to the DiBiases being sentenced to long prison terms. This investigation is a model for inter-jurisdictional law enforcement cooperation, good police work and a commitment to bringing violent offenders to justice.”
After the DiBiases and Foskey were arrested in 2012, Police Sgt. Carol Ogrinc put it this way: “This is huge.”
“It was an unbelievable team effort with all involved. Working together was really key in coming to this resolution,” Ogrinc said.
Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, thanked the FBI and no fewer than eight police units that helped work the case against “The DiBiase Home Invasion Crew.” With a first nod to the Westchester County, N.Y. Violent Crimes Task Force, Bharara named New Canaan Police; Greenwich Police; Ridgefield Police; Bedford, N.Y. Police; Harrison, N.Y. Police; New York State Police; North Castle, N.Y. Police; and Westchester County, N.Y. Police.
