New Bedford House Breaker Sentenced to Prison
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
Press Release
February 9, 2023
A 49-year-old career criminal who broke into two separate New Bedford homes in late 2019 and early 2020 was sentenced to serve up to seven-and-a-half years in state prison last Friday in Fall River Superior Court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Kevin Souto pleaded guilty to indictments charging him with two counts of Breaking and Entering During the Daytime to Commit a Felony and two counts of Larceny from a Building.
On November 10, 2019 at 11:15 am New Bedford Police were dispatched to a Keene Street residence on a report of a break in. When police arrived, they found the 68-year-old victim standing outside in fear. Police cleared house and noted that glass on the front door was broken and the dead bolt pried off. Surveillance footage from a neighbor across the street shows the defendant entering the home and then exiting eight minutes later. The defendant had stolen jewelry, a laptop and a tea kettle. Investigators later determined the defendant had pawned several pieces of the jewelry at a New Bedford pawn shop the next day. Thankfully, the jewelry was all returned to the victim.
Then, on March 11, 2020 at 4:15 pm New Bedford Police were dispatched to a Mount Pleasant Street residence on a report of a break in. The victim saw his side door glass panel broken and front door damaged from the outside. A Rolex watch, Tag watch, Beats headphones and a white pillowcase were all missing. Surveillance footage from a neighbor on Weld Street shows the defendant entering and exiting the residence twice, first with shoe boxes then with the white pillowcase.
The defendant, who has multiple prior convictions for breaking and entering, and other larceny behavior, was sentenced by Judge Thomas McGuire to serve six-and-a-half to seven-and-a-half years in state prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Catherine Sauter.
“This defendant is a career criminal who has a history of breaking into homes. The sentence was appropriate in order to protect the public from his habitual criminal behavior,” District Attorney Quinn said.
Contact:
Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications
774-292-9576