Two men from Pennsylvania were each sentenced to nine years in prison on burglary charges for posing as construction workers and breaking into a Valley Stream home two years ago, stealing more than $1 million in property, including two Rolex watches and several legally owned firearms.
Dejuan Michaels, Daiquan Smith, Tehron Green and a fourth unapprehended co-defendant arrived at the Valley Stream home after the homeowner left for work on September 23, 2023, at approximately 7:15 a.m. The defendants, dressed in construction gear, arrived in two separate vehicles. They broke a rear window of the home and climbed inside, and at approximately 8:50 a.m., one of the defendants then exited the window and left the residence, returning approximately 30 minutes later with a hand truck. The defendant then passed the hand truck through the broken window into the home.
All four men were later captured on surveillance video from outside the victim’s home, leaving the residence with two safes on the hand truck containing cash, firearms, watches, and other property totaling a value of approximately $1 million.
An investigation by the Nassau County Police Department’s Major Case Squad revealed that Michaels had purchased a hand truck from a home improvement store in Elmont during the course of the burglary.
A review of the defendants’ cellphone records also recovered photos of Michaels and Smith posing in a Pennsylvania warehouse with cash, the victim’s watches, and the victim’s firearms on the same day of the burglary. Green also appeared in the background of one of the warehouse photos. Michaels and Smith were photographed wearing the same clothing captured on surveillance video outside the victim’s home.
On April 11, 2024, Michaels and Smith were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service. Michaels was arrested in New Castle, Delaware, and Smith in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Green was arrested on March 5, 2025, by detectives from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Dejuan Michaels, 31, and Daiquan Smith, 30, pleaded guilty on September 22, 2025, before Judge Helene Gugerty to one count of Burglary in the Second Degree (a C violent felony) and one count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree (a B felony).
The defendants were each sentenced on October 31, 2025, to nine years in prison. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office recommended a sentence of 12 years in prison for each defendant.
Green, 45, also pleaded guilty on September 22, 2025, to Burglary in the Second Degree and one count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 3, 2025.
“These defendants thought they could outsmart law enforcement, casing a Valley Stream home and posing as construction workers as a ruse to break-in and steal over $1 million in property. But through terrific detective work by investigators and my prosecutors, and the defendants’ own hubris, these men now find themselves heading to prison,” said Nassau DA Anne Donnelly.
“Incredibly, after absconding with the proceeds of their theft over state lines, the men memorialized their crime in photographs, posing with the cash, watches, and guns they stole in the very same clothes they wore when committing the crime,” Donnelly continued. “Staring down nearly a decade behind bars, these defendants are not smiling now.”