Poughkeepsie Couple Guilty of Hate Crimes Against Elderly Asian Women

A Poughkeepsie couple is headed to jail after pleading guilty to hate crimes committed against several elderly Asian women.

The Daily News reports that Marcideza Dumitru, 29, and her husband, Constantin Miclescu, 30, were charged with the hate crimes because of a plot to snatch gold chains off of three elderly women's necks. The incidents happened in Queens earlier this spring. The women were all of Asian descent and were aged 68, 79 and 81.

The couple's sneaky plan was to walk up to the unsuspecting older women and place a yellow metal chain around their necks while engaging them in conversation. As the victims were distracted by the attention, their real gold necklaces were stolen.

The Poughkeepsie couple was caught thanks to surveillance footage and the fact that Miclescu was wearing an ankle bracelet provided by Immigration and Customs. The GPS data from the bracelet allowed authorities to place Miclescu at the scene.

While being held in jail for the past month, prosecutors decided to charge the duo with a hate crime because they purposefully targeted the elderly women.Richard Brown, the District Attorney in Queens told the Daily News "The defendants' guilty pleas ensure that the victims of their crimes, which were motivated by hate, will receive justice."

Dumitru and Miclescu both plead guilty to grand larceny as a hate crime and will serve nine months in jail.