NEWBURGH, NY – A Newburgh woman has pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and offering a false instrument, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The Orange County DA issued the following release:
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Thursday, April 7, 2022, Brandi Wickliffe, 46, of Newburgh, pled guilty in Orange County Court to one count of Burglary in the Second Degree and one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. Under the plea agreement announced on the record at the time that Wickliffe pled guilty, the District Attorney’s Office will recommend that she serve five years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision on the burglary charge when she is sentenced on June 30, 2022. The District Attorney’s Office will further recommend that Wickliffe serve one to three years in prison on the false instrument charge, to run consecutive to the burglary sentence for an aggregate term of six to eight years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
Prosecutors were prepared to argue at the burglary trial that on January 29, 2020, Wickliffe entered into a residence in the Town of Newburgh and stole an X-Box gaming system. After stealing the property, Wickliffe sold the system at a store in Poughkeepsie. On January 31, 2020, Wickliffe entered a different residence in the Town of Newburgh and stole various items of jewelry. The owners of both of the homes were strangers to Wickliffe and she had no reason to enter into the homes. After an investigation by the Town of Newburgh Police Department, Wickliffe was developed as a suspect. Wickliffe later identified herself in surveillance video from the crimes, as well as in video from the store where she sold the X-Box.
The trial for the burglary counts was scheduled to commence on March 22, 2022. On the day before trial was set to commence, the case was scheduled in Court for a pre-trial conference. On that date, Wickliffe failed to appear in Court and told Court staff that she had contracted COVID. In support of her claim, Wickliffe submitted to the Court a report from an urgent care facility that purported to show that Wickliffe had tested positive. It was quickly discovered that the test results were forged and submitted to the Court to excuse her absence.
District Attorney Hoovler thanked the Town of Newburgh Police Department for their investigation and the arrest of Wickliffe.
“This defendant’s brazen conduct is as stunning as it is reprehensible,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “That the defendant would invade the homes of two families for her own benefit is egregious enough. However, that she would compound her crimes by attempting to mislead the Court with forged documents is beyond the pale. I hope that the convictions and sentence in these cases stand as a warning to those who would attempt crimes of deceit. I applaud our law enforcement partners for following the evidence in this case and not allowing the defendant’s deception to permit her to escape responsibility.”