Prosecutors contend that a Chicago man sentenced in Cayuga County Court this week didn't get a harsh enough penalty.

Robert Ely, 37, was sentenced to six months in Cayuga County Jail, five years probation and $700 in restitution for burglarizing the home of an elderly Weedsport woman in 1995.

Ely, who has been described by Chief Assistant District Attorney Jon Budelmann as part of a burglary crew from a Chicago-based Gypsy-organized crime clan, pleaded guilty July 24, just days before his trial was to start. As part of his plea, he agreed to cooperate against two other defendants in the burglary.

Both Budelmann and defense attorney Simon Moody agree the two accomplices he named while testifying under oath were not the same names as the two identified in the course of the investigation. But they part ways when determining if Ely did, in fact, provide the court truthful information.

Moody contends that Ely provided truthful and willing cooperation, giving the court and the district attorney's office accurate information, and by doing so fulfilled his part in the plea agreement.

“It is the promised sentence that Judge (Thomas) Leone committed to imposing,” Moody said. “That sentence was conditional upon Robert providing truthful cooperation regarding the other codefendants. Robert Ely provided an enormous amount of information, including names, aliases, addresses, telephone numbers, photographs of cars operated by the codefendants, license plates and even details regarding family members, all of which could be easily verified.”

But Budelmann maintains that Ely lied in his testimony when naming the co-conspirators. One, Budelmann said, is a fictional character who was in fact Ely's brother-in-law, originally identified by an eye-witness in 1995 as one of four suspects in the burglary. Budelmann said that Ely had later admitted that his brother-in-law was involved.

This lie, Budelmann said, constituted a violation in Ely's plea agreement and he asked Leone for a harsher sentence. Leone disagreed, saying that Ely upheld his part in the bargain.

“We had asked for a sentence of prison. This is an individual that had prayed on the elderly and infirm for 20 or 30 years,” said Budelmann, pointing to a recent conviction in Michigan for forceful trespass. “He's been doing it in many states over many years and as far as we are concerned, he needs more time than that.”

The Weedsport theft took place on Sept. 7, 1995. Ely and three others rented a van in Cleveland, got off the state Thruway in Weedsport and stole more than $3,000 after talking their way into the woman's home.

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239