Kayaking bail-jumper sentenced for New Jersey burglaries

A convicted burglar has been ordered to serve jail time, nearly two years after he fled his initially scheduled sentencing hearing and kayaked across the Niagara River to Canada, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday.

Steven Pieczynski, 39, was handed down two concurrent five-year prison terms. He must serve the time consecutively to a four-year jail sentence he received in May after being convicted of bail jumping.

Pieczynski was dubbed the "Facebook burglar" after police in Pennsylvania suspected he targeted victims of a break-in who posted their vacation plans on the social media site.

Pieczynski, who was Facebook friends with the victims, broke into their Wrightstown home in September 2011 and stole jewelry, gift cards, DVDs and coins.

Detectives identified him after an alert neighbor saw a suspicious car the night of the crime and recorded its license plate.

He was arrested Oct. 20 when investigators executed a search warrant at his Lambertville home and found proceeds from the burglary, prosecutors said.

Other evidence led detectives to additional burglary victims closer to Pieczynski's residence. Prosecutors said he preyed on at least two West Amwell Township neighbors during the power outages in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

Pieczynski pleaded guilty in March 2012 to burglary and related offenses for the Bucks County crime and was sentenced to 60 days to 23 months in prison, to be served during consecutive weekends, court records state.

He pleaded guilty that June to two counts of burglary in Hunterdon County Superior Court.

But, on Sept. 29, 2012, before he was sentenced for the New Jersey offenses, Pieczynski stole his wife's car, drove to Lewiston, N.Y., launched a kayak into the Lower Niagara River and made his way to the Toronto area, prosecutors said.

Members of the Toronto Police Service Fugitive Squad, the Integrated Border Enforcement Team, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Canada Border Services Agency arrested Pieczynski less than a month later at the home of a woman he met on the Internet.

He was extradited back to the United States, where a Hunterdon County jury convicted him of the bail-jumping charge this past March.