Woman pleads guilty to robbery of elderly woman in Parsippany

A 53-year-old woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to assisting her boyfriend in the robbery of an elderly woman who was held up at gunpoint in Parsippany, forced to give up her debit and credit cards and tied with electrical cord and locked in her car trunk, from which she managed to escape.

Marilyn Nadeau, wearing a headset in Superior Court, Morristown, to assist her with hearing, admitted to Judge James DeMarzo that she assisted boyfriend Joseph DeFreitas, 43, in the robbery of a 71-year-old woman who had become lost while trying to leave New Jersey to drive back to her home in Glen, New Hampshire. The victim had been visiting friends over the holidays when she was robbed by Nadeau and DeFreitas on Dec. 29, 2012.

In exchange for her guilty plea to one count of robbery, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Brian DiGiacomo and defense lawyer Wayne Morse reached an agreement under which the recommended sentence for Nadeau — who had met DeFreitas in the Hartford, Ct. area — would be 12 years behind bars with 85 percent of the term to be served before parole consideration.

Under questioning by Morse, Nadeau agreed that she and DeFreitas were driving around Parsippany in a car he had rented when DeFreitas pulled alongside a female driver, pointed an imitation gun at her, forced her into the passenger seat and drove off. Nadeau said she then drove the rental car and followed DeFreitas to a bank in Parsippany, where she used the victim’s debit card at an ATM to make a withdrawal.

Though Nadeau did not participate in every aspect of the robbery, she pleaded guilty under the theory of accomplice liability. She and DeFreitas were living in East Rutherford at the time of their arrests.

The judge wanted more details from Nadeau about the crime, to satisfy himself that force was used and all statutory elements were met.

Nadeau wound up elaborating that the victim — identified in court papers as Pauline Yeager — was spotted by a convenience store and then followed by DeFreitas who ultimately robbed her. Nadeau said she found out after the fact that DeFreitas tied the woman with electrical cord and abandoned her in the trunk of her car, from which she managed to escape and call police.

The judge asked Nadeau if she tried to summon help after hearing the victim was left in the trunk. “Not at that moment,” she replied.

DeFreitas had pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 25 years in state prison, with 85 percent of that stint to be served before parole consideration.

Sentencing for Nadeau was set for June 26.

Authorities have said the pair were caught through Facebook postings and on surveillance images when they used Yeager’s credit cards.

The pair are suspects in a December 2012 home invasion in Glastonbury, Connecticut, in which an elderly couple was tied up and robbed of $108,000 kept in a safe in her home.

When arrested in January 2013, DeFreitas and Nadeau had the victim’s credit cards, driver’s license and a black Air-Soft pistol in their apartment.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.