June 21, 2017
Passaic Man Enters Guilty Plea at Start Home Invasion Trial
Newark – Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino announced today that Peter Kopic, 38, of Passaic pled guilty to an Irvington home invasion robbery, one day after the start of his trial before the Honorable Siobhan A. Teare, Judge of the Superior Court.
Kopic entered guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit burglary, burglary, robbery, and impersonating a law enforcement officer. In exchange for his plea, four counts of kidnapping were dismissed.
According to Assistant Prosecutor Jason Goldberg, who was trying the case, on Aug. 6, 2011 Kopic and an unidentified man went to an Irvington apartment on Manor Drive dressed as police officers, saying they were there to execute a search warrant. Once they gained entry to the apartment, they tied up two women in the house with zip ties, put them in a back room and stole thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry from the apartment.
A five-year-old and an 11-month-old were confined in the bedroom with the women during the home invasion.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Kopic is expected to be sentenced to eight years in state prison when he is sentenced on Nov. 3. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
“This case shows that even after six years of the defendant avoiding prosecution, that a community and neighbors will bravely come together when called upon to stand up to a predator who preyed upon defenseless women and children for his own personal gain. While the defendant ran from these charges for six long years, the combined effort of law enforcement and the community continued the pursuit of justice and ensured that the defendant was held accountable for this horrible home invasion,’’ said Assistant Prosecutor Goldberg.
Kopic has one prior conviction from 2004 for leaving the scene of an accident.
