A father and son from Florida were arrested this week for committing multiple “distraction-style” burglaries throughout Western Pennsylvania, including in Butler, Indiana and Westmoreland counties, Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced.

Steve Nichols, 53, and Archie Marino, 34, both of Fort Lauderdale, were indicted by a statewide investigating grand jury this summer. Charges were filed against the pair before District Judge William O’Donnell in Butler County after a three-year probe, according to court documents.

“These defendants are charged with conduct that includes seeking out seniors, distracting them, invading their home, and in some cases stealing thousands of dollars of cash and personal belongings,” Shapiro said Friday.

In each instance, the pair targeted elderly homeowners, one of them engaging the homeowner in conversation while the other entered the residence and stole items of value from safes or various locations throughout the house, according to the grand jury.

Agents from the attorney general’s office said the pair would fly into a particular area and use a rental car to drive to where the burglaries were committed.

The grand jury was told that Marino has former in-laws from the Pittsburgh area, one of whom identified him during the investigation from a surveillance camera image taken at a Mt. Pleasant residence where he rang a doorbell during an unsuccessful burglary attempt.

Agents obtained car rental and airline ticket records of the pair on trips when they flew into Pittsburgh International Airport to commit area thefts, as well as an October 2018 trip where thefts occurred in Lackawanna and Lebanon counties.

According to the grand jury presentment, Marino and Nichols flew in through Philadelphia International Airport and rented a vehicle there in those eastern Pennsylvania cases.

Agents also obtained cellphone data of the suspects, which confirmed they were in areas during the dates and times burglaries were committed, prosecutors said.

The grand jury found that on Nov. 9, 2018, an 85-year-old woman from Blairsville, Indiana County, was scammed out of more than $1,600 in the scheme. An hour after that theft, the grand jury said, the pair travelled to Latrobe, where a couple, 83 and 87 years old, had about $5,000 in cash and jewelry stolen after a man knocked on their door and said he had to “check the home’s electrical breakers.”

Agents used cellphone data records and rental car records to connect the pair to those thefts, according to the presentment. The couple also identified Marino from a photograph.

On Nov. 7, 2018, Mt. Pleasant police reported that an 82-year-old man said he was burglarized. The victim told police that a man knocked on his door saying he was from the power company and his electricity was going to be turned off for three days. The man asked to go into the basement because they were going to install a generator.

According to the indictment, the “utility” worker said he had to call his boss and abruptly left.

The victim later found that a safe in a bedroom had been pried open and $1,700 was stolen.

In Butler County, the grand jury said an 86-year-old victim from Prospect reported she was on her front porch swing on Aug. 27, 2018, when she was approached by a man who claimed he was from the power company “and wanted to take a tour of the property.”

When the victim went inside after the tour, she discovered a second man inside. When the pair left, she reported $1,625 in jewelry missing, according to the presentment. She reported the theft to state police and gave a description of the thieves.

A half-hour later, an 83-year-old woman in the Prospect area said she was gardening when a man approached and claimed to be a utility worker. She also subsequently discovered a second man looking inside a bedroom of her residence and called police.

Nothing was reported taken in the second case, but authorities believe they were related.

Agents noted that after the Pennsylvania thefts, Nichols and Marino would often return to Florida and obtain multiple checks — sometimes amounting to several thousand dollars — from a rare coin dealer and deposit money into their personal bank accounts. Investigators believe those were proceeds from the pawning jewelry stolen in the Pennsylvania heists.

“Let this send a loud and clear message — if you target older Pennsylvanians, we’re going to hold you to account,” Shapiro said.

Marino and Nichols both are charged with operating corrupt organizations, conspiracy, burglary and theft charges.

Although warrants were issued for the pair June 3, a spokesman for Shapiro’s office said agents with the U.S. Marshal’s office, acting on tips, took Marino and Nichols into custody this week in Florida.

Marino was transported to Pennsylvania and arraigned late Thursday in Butler County. The spokesman said Nichols has waived extradition and is waiting to be transported to Pennsylvania for arraignment.

Marino was jailed in Butler County on $50,000 bond.

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