It took five minutes and 50 seconds for the judge’s clerk to read all the charges against George Charles Dalmas III at the beginning of his plea hearing Wednesday, Nov. 29 in Fairfax County Circuit Court.
Dalmas pleaded guilty to 10 counts of statutory burglary and faces up to 20 years on each count.
“Do you understand … you potentially face 200 years in prison? Do you understand that?” asked Judge Robert W. Wooldridge Jr.
Dalmas, 48 of Falls Church, was originally arrested on Jan. 31 and charged with 17 counts of burglary and 16 counts of grand larceny; 23 charges were dropped in exchange for his 10 pleas.
<b>DALMAS WAS SUSPECTED</b> of breaking into 17 homes — mostly in McLean, Great Falls and Falls Church — and stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry as well as more than 1,000 pairs of women’s undergarments from October 2005 to January 2006, according to police reports.
A 40-year-old McLean woman assisted police after she encountered Dalmas in her Lewinsville Road home on Jan. 24, 2006. After chasing Dalmas out of her home, the McLean woman flagged down a neighbor and they followed Dalmas long enough to be able to give police the license plate number on his green Mazda minivan, said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ian M. Rodway.
When police executed a search warrant on Dalmas’ home in Falls Church, they found stolen merchandise, including jewelry, antique clocks and picture frames, Rodway said.
“The defendant indicated to his wife that he got them at yard sales,” Rodway said.
Dalmas’ wife assisted police, and contacted police when she discovered a secret filing cabinet that had additional merchandise her husband stole.
Approximately 75 percent of the stolen merchandise was recovered, said Rodway.
Dalmas is scheduled to be formally sentenced in February.