Man Sentenced In Violent Home Invasion: DA

CENTER MORICHES, NY — A man involved in a violent Center Moriches home invasion in 2016 — residents, including children, were home at the time of the terrifying incident — was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini.

Alexander Vaughn, 30, of Brooklyn, was convicted by a jury of first degree burglary on June 12; he was sentenced Wednesday by Suffolk County Acting Supreme Court Justice Mark Cohen to the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison with five years of post-release supervision, Sini said in a release.

Vaughn committed the armed burglary of an occupied Center Moriches home in 2016; the defendant and his two co-conspirators used duct tape to restrain three occupants of the home and threatened them using a firearm and baseball bats, Sini said.

“Our homes are supposed to be the places where we feel most safe, but that feeling was stripped away from the victims when the three defendants terrorized and stole from them in their own house,” Sini said. “This individual deserved the maximum sentence he received today for the depravity of his crimes."

Sini thanked Assistant District Attorneys James Chalifoux and Anthony Russolello, who prosecuted the case, for "securing convictions against all three perpetrators and delivering justice on behalf of the victims."

In a prepared statement read by prosecutors at the sentencing, one of the victims said: “It has been a year and a half, and we still jump when we hear the alarm chime signaling a door opened in our home. However, knowing that the three defendants will not be able to do this to anyone else eases our minds.”

At approximately 10:10 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2016, Vaughn; Bidi George, 21, of Brooklyn; and Akim Adams, 27, of Brooklyn, entered the victims’ residence through an unlocked garage connected to the house; Vaughn was armed with a handgun and George and Adams were armed with baseball bats, Sini said.

Once inside, at Vaughn’s direction, George bound three occupants of the home, one of whom was 14 years old, to chairs and gagged them with duct tape, Sini said.

Three children between the ages of nine and 12 years old were also in the residence at the time of the incident; two of the children heard the defendants enter the residence and hid in the attic of the house for the duration of the burglary, Sini said.

Vaughn, George and Adams stole several items from the victims’ residence, including jewelry, cash, and a cell phone, Sini said.

A description of the suspects was broadcast over the Suffolk County Police Department’s radio system; officers from the Third Precinct apprehended the three defendants at approximately 11:22 p.m. as they were driving on the Southern State Parkway in Bay Shore in a 2016 Hyundai sedan, Sini said. Vaughn was driving the vehicle with George and Adams as passengers; the three defendants were found in possession of several of the items stolen from the residence, Sini said.

George was convicted by a jury of first degree burglary on Nov. 2, 2017; he was sentenced by Judge Cohen to the maximum of 25 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision on May 3, Sini said.

Adams pleaded guilty to first degree burglary on May 17; he was sentenced by Judge Cohen to 17 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision on June 18, Sini said.

Patch file photo.