11-08-04 -- Madden, Derrick -- Guilty Plea -- News Release

Third Member of "James Bond" Burglary Ring Pleads Guilty to More Than Two Dozen Break-Ins

NEWARK - A member of the burglary ring that became known as the "James Bond Gang" pleaded guilty today in federal court, admitting his involvement in more than two dozen burglaries of upscale homes in several New Jersey counties and New York, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Derrick Madden, 30, of Teaneck, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden and became the fourth member of the gang to plead guilty in federal or state court. Madden specifically admitted involvement in 29 burglaries but said he was involved in others to which he would testify if called upon, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Aidan O'Connor.

Madden pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit residential burglaries and transport stolen goods in interstate commerce. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Judge Hayden scheduled sentencing for Feb. 28 for Madden.

The gang, which operated out of Bergen County, was responsible for more than $1 million in thefts from approximately 50 residential burglaries in Bergen, Monmouth and Morris counties in New Jersey and Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties and Staten Island in New York from October 2000 until September 2002.

With the cooperation of the office of Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, the case against three defendants was adopted for federal prosecution. Bergen County and Englewood detectives had cracked the case in October 2002. Three members of the gang - Madden, Bruce Anderson and Demetrius Owen - were indicted federally in May last year.

The three defendants are part of a larger gang that came to be known as the "James Bond" burglary gang, from their attempts to avoid capture, which included modified BMW with secret compartments to conceal loot, an oil-jet system to slicken the road behind them and hidden, bright halogen headlamps to defeat pursuing police vehicles.

Anderson, 37, of Englewood pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to a separate count of transporting good in interstate before Judge Hayden on Sept. 29, 2004. Anderson is currently serving an unrelated state prison sentence. Owens, 31, of Teaneck, pleaded guilty before Judge Hayden on Oct., 2003. Sentencing for Anderson is scheduled for Jan. 24 before Judge Hayden. Owens' sentencing has not been scheduled.

Owens and Madden will each face a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of either $250,000 or a fine that is twice the gross amount of any profit from the offense or loss by any of the victims. Anderson faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and a fine of either $500,000 or a fine that is twice the gross amount of any profit from the offense or loss by any of the victims.

Leon Roberts, 37, of Englewood, was prosecuted by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, and pleaded guilty to state burglary and theft charges. Roberts was sentenced on Dec. 19, 2003, by state Superior Court Judge John Conte to eight years in state prison, with a 32-month period of parole ineligibility, according to Prosecutor Molinelli.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie noted that the government's investigation into the culpability of other conspirators is continuing and he credited Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy, Jr.; detectives with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Molinelli; detectives of the Englewood Police Department, under the direction of Chief David E. Bowman, as well as numerous police departments in New Jersey and New York, for fine investigative work that led to the arrests and prosecution of the members of the conspiracy.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney O'Connor, of the U.S. Attorney's Violent Crime Unit in Newark.

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Defense Counsel:

For Anderson: Lawrence A. Dubin, Esq., New York

For defendant Owens: Esther Salas, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark

For Madden: Roy B. Greenman, Esq., Union