MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A Washington Heights ex-con who stole money, jewelry and other property from guests at upscale Manhattan hotels — including $250,000 worth of goods from the Plaza Hotel room of a Dubai royal — pleaded guilty to burglary charges Tuesday.
James Bennett, 45, admitted to stealing items from guests at such swanky hotels as the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Regis, Plaza and Jumeirah Essex House last year.
Bennett was caught in October when employees at the London NYC Hotel on West 54th Street noticed him loitering near their office. He was arrested on Nov. 2 as part of an investigation into an Oct. 24 burglary at the hotel.
When he was being questioned about that case, police searched his home and allegedly found $35,000 in loot that was stolen from the room of Dubai Princess Arwa Al Qassimi at the Plaza on Oct. 30 — including cash, jewelry, an iPad and iPhone.
Some $250,000 in valuables, including a $100,000 Rolex, had been taken from the suite, authorities said, but it was not clear what happened to the rest of the items.
He also stole a computer and suitcase from a patron at the St. Regis on West 55th Street, Bennett admitted when entering a plea to burglary and grand larceny charges.
Additionally, he took a Chopard watch and Cartier sunglasses from a guest at the Jumeirah Essex House on Central Park South. All the incidents occurred in October and July 2011.
James — who served more than three years for burglary beginning in May 2007 — has eight prior arrests dating back to 1996.
"From the city of New York's standpoint, a career burglar in these kinds of places is not a good thing," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin said before suggesting he would not be open to giving Bennett a light sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Jordan Arnold is recommending at least 10 years in prison for Bennett.
The minimum sentence he faces is seven years in prison, and Bennett has a prior felony conviction for a 2005 burglary at the Waldorf.
He's due back in court Jan. 24 for sentencing.
