New Jersey Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck today announced the indictment of a man who is charged with leading a criminal ring responsible for numerous residential burglaries across much of New Jersey. Work by the Verona Police Department had led to the arrest of Keith Perry and three others in April.
The state grand jury indictment charges Perry, 38, of Teaneck, with the following offenses:
• Promoting Organized Street Crime (1st Degree),
• Conspiracy (2nd Degree),
• Burglary with a Weapon (2nd Degree),
• 16 Additional Counts of Burglary (3rd Degree),
• Receiving Stolen Property (2nd Degree), and
• Theft by Unlawful Taking (2nd Degree).
When the arrests were made, then Attorney General Gurbir Grewal praised the Verona Police for its work. Detective Thomas J Conroy III was lead detective on the case for Verona, working under the supervision of Lt. Tim Banta. Chief Christopher Kiernan commented on the indictment today, saying that the case highlighted the “exceptional partnership” shared among law enforcement agencies in New Jersey. Police departments in Morris, Bergen, Essex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Union, Passaic, Monmouth, and Middlesex—as well as lower New York state investigated 84 burglaries committed from October 2020 through March 2021.
Perry was charged specifically in connection with 17 of those burglaries. Two ring members who were charged with Perry in April—Porsche Brown, 29, of Lodi, and Kay Brown, 23, of Paterson, (no relation to each other)—pleaded guilty on July 13 to third-degree burglary and are awaiting sentencing.
“I must applaud Verona Detective TJ Conroy and Detective Lieutenant Timothy Banta who stayed with this case from the day of the Verona burglary in early December 2020,” said Kiernan, “researching an enormous number of cases throughout the state, identifying similarities to Verona’s burglary, and breaking many leads. Their efforts and the teamwork of all of the participating agencies ultimately led to the arrests of individuals responsible for numerous burglaries throughout the state.”
The indictment is posted online at: Perry Indictment
