Crime & Safety

Belmont Burglars Plead No Contest to Felony Charges

Each defendant was sentenced to at least nine months in custody.

Three men have pleaded no contest to charges in connection with a burglary in Belmont in July that was thwarted by an alert mailman, who spotted them acting suspiciously and called the police.

Belmont man Tele Kalafi Matangi, 23, and East Palo Alto residents Tavasa Kipiloti Pale, 19, and Erik Cabrera Palomares, 18, pleaded no contest to felony charges Friday in San Mateo County Superior Court and each received prison or jail sentences.

Matangi pleaded no contest to felony possession of stolen property, and to having a prior strike. He was senteced to 32 months in state prison, with 102 days of credit for time served.

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Palomares also pleaded no contest to felony possession of stolen property, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Palomares, who had been out of custody on $50,000 cash bail, was given credit for four days served and must surrender to the jail by Nov. 12.

Pale pleaded no contest to residential burglary, and was given a nine-month jail sentence. He too has credit for 102 days served.

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Each defendant was also ordered to pay restitution.

The men were arrested July 18 after they were spotted by the mail carrier shortly before 2 p.m. that day, loitering near a home in the 400 block of Yorkshire Way, according to prosecutors.

The carrier knew the residents were unlikely to be home mid-day on a Monday, and saw the backyard gate was open and the dog had been let out.

The carrier notified Belmont police, who allegedly found them close by carting two bags of property stolen from the home.

The trio were taken into custody without incident.


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