A Niantic man who entered his neighbors' unlocked homes in 2013 and stole jewelry, money and scrap metal was sentenced Wednesday in New London Superior Court to 2½ years in prison.

Claude M. Adams, 26, formerly of Osprey Lane and Bidwell St., Niantic, had pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree larceny, sixth-degree larceny and fourth-degree larceny.

Charged in October 2013 following a spate of burglaries in the Attawan Beach section of Niantic, Adams has been free on bond under the supervision of the Alternative in the Community program while his case was pending. On Monday, he stood with his attorney, Gregg W. Wagman, as Judge Hillary B. Strackbein meted out his punishment. He will be on special parole for 2½ years after he is released from prison.

According to arrest warrant affidavits prepared by East Lyme Police detective Donald W. Marr, several residents of the Attawan Beach area, all of them friends or acquaintances of Adams or his mother, reported being the victims of daytime burglaries in the spring of 2013. Three residents of a West End Avenue home told police they checked their jewelry boxes after hearing of the burglaries and noticed items missing. One of them reported she had seen Adams, known as "CJ," outside the house a few weeks earlier. He told her he wanted to borrow an Allen wrench.

Adams stole jewelry and a $100 bill from the home of another West End Avenue resident while working for the lawn care business of the homeowner's son, according to the court documents. He admitted to stealing the jewelry when the employer left him alone at the home while getting mulch. A burglary occurred on Goodwin Drive on April 27, 2013, and as police canvassed the neighborhood, a neighbor said he saw Adams on his property, and that when he confronted him, Adams appeared drugged and "double-talked" him. The burglary victims all admitted to leaving one or more doors unlocked when they left the house.

Marr checked with local pawn stores, and learned Adams and another man had been pawning jewelry since November 2012. The other man, who has not been charged, told police he had since entered drug rehabilitation and denied involvement in the burglaries, according to the affidavit.

The theft of two pails of scrap copper and brass from a yard on Indian Woods Road in August 2013 also was traced to Adams, who sold the metals at Calamari Recycling in Essex, according to the court documents. During the investigation, police interviewed Dana Doss of New London, who is incarcerated at the Janet S. York Correctional Center on a larceny charge. She said she had sold heroin to Adams, who paid with cash at first but started paying with jewelry that he said he had stolen during daytime burglaries of unoccupied and unlocked homes. 

While his case was pending, Adams tested positive several times for OxyContin and other opiates, according to his court file. While on parole, he will be prohibited from using drugs or consuming alcohol.

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN