It's rare for the Sag Harbor Justice Court to have an arraignment for a bail-eligible offense, but on Wednesday afternoon Peter Aviles — sought by police for the last 13 months in connection with a million-dollar heist that happened at 127 Bay Street on Sept. 25, 2022 — was charged with burglary in the second degree, a class C violent felony.
Two co-defendants, Jacqueline Jewitt and Raymond Bouderau, who were romantically involved at the time of the burglary, were charged in December 2022 with grand larceny and burglary. The heist involved two residences owned by the same person, the one in Sag Harbor and the other in Manhattan. Both Ms. Jewitt and Mr. Bouderau recently pleaded guilty to attempted burglary in the second degree, for which they could receive three-year jail sentences.
Mr. Aviles was escorted into the courtroom by a state trooper. He was wearing a gray sweatsuit with his hands cuffed in front, close to a restrictive belt.
The arraignment was delayed for 30 minutes while a technical issue was worked out, and then Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace explained the process to the accused man.\
"First, the court will present charges. Second, we will consider orders, and third, we will figure conditions for your return," he said.
"I'll be entering a plea of not guilty on behalf of my client," said Christian Killoran, an attorney assigned to Mr. Aviles, who did not have his own counsel.
Sean Buckley, an assistant county district attorney, made an application for a temporary stay-away order while the case is pending, to which Mr. Killoran did not object. "My client is signing the order of protection," said Mr. Killoran, "but that is not indicative of any understanding or knowledge of who that person is."
"There is an order of protection in this case," Justice Irace explained to Mr. Aviles. It says that he is to stay away from the owner of the properties. "If you figure out who that is, and you see her walking down the street, you have to walk the other way."
The next order of business, which took the most time, was for the court to determine how best to get Mr. Aviles to return to court for future proceedings. Justice Irace made clear that he was not planning to hold Mr. Aviles.
Mr. Killoran mentioned Mr. Aviles' family ties, said he didn't have any criminal convictions, and suggested supervised release with $10,000 bail.
Mr. Buckley countered by describing Mr. Aviles' alleged crimes. He is accused of entering the Sag Harbor house though a basement window and making off with items worth in excess of $1 million, including cash, jewelry, wine, and firearms. "We have 30 fingerprints of his on the safe where the cash and firearms were stolen," the prosecutor said, indicating the strength of the D.A.'s case. "We have surveillance video from the next day of the defendant carrying the proceeds into one of the co-defendant's residences in the city. We have zero belief he is going to abide by the court's orders to appear when directed."
He requested that Mr. Aviles be remanded, and that bail be set at $500,000 cash, $1 million bond, or $2 million partially secured bond.
Mr. Bouderau and Ms. Jewett "have implicated against the defendant," he added.
Justice Irace looked at Mr. Aviles. "Does he work?" he asked his lawyer.
"No," said Mr. Killoran.
"Flight or avoidance of court is the exception," said Justice Irace. "Most people fail to return to court because of the mundane details of life." But because Mr. Aviles was on the run for 13 months and had no ties to Suffolk County, he couldn't assume the man would return. "I'm trying to see how a combination of non-monetary factors could ensure Mr. Aviles' appearance in this court," he said.
Justice Irace asked Mr. Aviles how long he had lived at the address he gave the court, on East 95th street in Manhattan.
"About a month," the defendant answered.
"Where before?"
"I'll be honest, I was out on the street."
"I'll set $50,000 cash bail, $100,000 bond, and $200,000 partially secured bond," said Justice Irace.
"Am I allowed to speak, your honor?" Mr. Aviles asked.
"I don't want you to say anything that would risk prejudicing your case," was the response.
Mr. Aviles conferred with Mr. Killoran. "My client wants to set forth personally that if your honor could set supervision, he would return for future proceedings," said the lawyer.
Justice Irace said he would give Mr. Killoran until 2 p.m. on Monday to provide the court with another option, and that he would consider it.