SALEM — A Salem woman who may have redefined the phrase "cat burglar" pleaded guilty yesterday to a series of house breaks in south Salem last month.
Michele Paszkowski, 35, of 50 Roslyn St. was casing houses along Loring Avenue and Canal Street by knocking on doors, police and a prosecutor said.
When she found someone at home, she offered an excuse: She was looking for her lost cat, according to prosecutor Heidi Sylvanowicz. She even carried a picture of a cat.
But on the morning of Jan. 19, Paszkowski cased the home of an off-duty Salem police officer, veteran Patrolman Robert Cunningham, who had already been made aware of reports of the suspicious incidents and house breaks in the area.
She showed him the picture of the cat, and then left.
Cunningham didn't let on that he was a police officer, then watched as she got into a Pontiac allegedly driven by Paul Baldwin, 38, of Revere.
Cunningham and fellow Special Response Unit officer Sgt. Kristian Hanson began conducting surveillance and, on Jan. 23, followed the Pontiac to a home on Loring Avenue, Sylvanowicz said.
The officers watched Paszkowski knock on both front doors, then saw her go behind the house.
Then, they saw her again, holding her coat, which was bulging, closed. There was jewelry hanging out of the bottom, and when police took her by the arm to put her in custody, a jewelry box fell out. Police say she had also taken a bottle of pills, a $100 bill and a tool from the home.
Later, she admitted to the burglary, as well as another on Canal Street, in which she took a laptop that she traded for heroin, Sylvanowicz told Judge Michael Lauranzano.
Sylvanowicz urged the judge to send her to jail for at least nine months of a two-year term, saying that breaking and entering is "probably one of the most invasive crimes that can be committed" and took some planning.
Paszkowski's lawyer, Heather Ramsey, argued for time served and a suspended sentence, saying her client is a heroin addict who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after the death of her father in a house fire and abuse by her stepfather as a child. Ramsey noted that Paszkowski confessed to police immediately after she was caught.
Lauranzano imposed a two-year jail term but ordered that she serve just three months, to be followed by three years of probation.
Because she's already spent 23 days in custody, she will be eligible for parole in 22 days.
While on probation, she will have to stay away from the victims, submit to random drug tests, undergo a drug evaluation and treatment, and pay restitution.
Baldwin is due back in court on March 14.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis may be reached at 978-338-2521 or jmanganis@salemnews.com.
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