Man who pretended to be customer in jewelry heist sentenced

A Levittown man who pretended to be an innocent bystander in the robbery of an East Meadow jewelry store - but actually was in on the heist - was sentenced Wednesday to 3 1/2 years in prison, authorities said.

Michael Dellaera, 21, convicted in January of two counts of robbery and petit larceny, and a friend staged the 2008 robbery of Lee Oriental Jewelry on Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow to get money for drugs, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a news release.

Dellaera and Jamie Ramirez, also of Levittown, spent part of the early afternoon of June 26 smoking marijuana and using heroin before returning to Ramirez's home, investigators said. Looking for a way to get money for drugs, the two planned to rob the East Meadow jeweler.

Dellaera posed as a customer looking to sell a bracelet to gain entrance to the store, the release said. Once inside the door, "video surveillance showed him kick the door open behind him so Ramirez could enter," the release said. Using a BB-gun, Ramirez "put Dellaera in a headlock" and demanded money. He then jumped the counter, took money from the register and fled.

Dellaera then stayed behind to speak with police, however, he and Ramirez had planned to reunite afterward to split the robbery proceeds, prosecutors said.

After telling police he did not know the gunman, Dellaera finally admitted the gunman was an acquaintance when presented evidence from the video, police said. At the time, Dellaera denied involvement. After further investigation, the district attorney's office uncovered Dellaera's exact role, and he was indicted on July 7, 2009.

Ramirez, 21, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and is serving a two-year prison sentence.