Posted on 02/22/2002 2:49:44 PM PST by vannrox
Fri Feb 22, 6:50 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York man admitted in a plea deal on Thursday he posed as a firefighter at ground zero the day after the Sept. 11 attack and stole expensive watches and gems from a World Trade Center store.
Johnny Dunham, 26, of the Bronx, faces up to seven years in state prison when he is sentenced on March 21 by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Herbert Altman.
Dunham, who had been arrested previously for impersonating police officers, admitted to stealing as many as 20 Tourneau and Cartier watches and $2,500 cash from Tourneau's watch store that was on the first sub-level of 5 World Trade Center.
Tourneau officials had told police that the wholesale value of the missing merchandise was $1.3 million.
Had Dunham refused the plea deal, prosecutors said, they were prepared to add additional felony charges against him.
Dunham was indicted on charges of burglary, fraud, petty larceny, possession of stolen property and criminal impersonation.
After Dunham's arrest, police found photographs of him taken at the disaster site wearing firefighter's gear including an Emergency Service badge around his neck, police pants, a blue siren, a gun holster, a bulletproof vest and a walkie-talkie.
Arrested along with Dunham was his neighbor, Jacquelin Delgado, 34, an unemployed emergency medical technician who is charged with possessing a stolen $15,000 diamond-encrusted Cartier watch that Dunham gave her.
Charges against Delgado are pending.
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