This Week in Crime: Arrest in Lewd Filming and Another Jail Sentence in Jewelry Thefts

A Reston man has been charged with unlawful filming after allegedly videotaping up a woman's skirt at Dulles Airport.

Airports Authority police began an investigation of the 26-year-old in June after a couple that had just flown into Dulles International Airport complained that it appeared a man had been following them and taking pictures. He allegedly stayed particularly close to the woman as he followed them on every escalator. Then the couple saw a telephoto lens sticking out of the man's messenger bag.

The man wore an employee nametag from the Borders bookstore at the airport, so police were able to identify him quickly. Police also learned that he had been accused of similar transgressions in the past.

He had been convicted on three counts of unlawful filming for videotaping female students while he was at the University of Virginia in 2006 and 2007.

Investigators got a search warrant for the Reston townhouse where he lives with his parents and seized cameras, flash drives, a laptop computer and a home computer. They found 700 videos in which he allegedly aimed his camera up women's skirts dating to his days at UVA, police said. They also found 80 images of child pornography that investigators believe he downloaded on to the computers. They even found a guide explaining how to get the best up-skirt shots.

Thanks to his prior conviction, he could face a tougher punishment in the future. After that case, UVA campus police lobbied the State Legislature for a tougher law, and now a third unlawful filming offense is a felony.

Charming.

Meanwhile, the leader of the trio of New York City burglars who targeted Indian homes throughout Fairfax County and Loudoun for gold heirlooms has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Dagoberto Soto Ramirez, 28, and his wife, Melinda M. Soto, 34, of Queens, admitted that they traveled to Fairfax and Loudoun counties from January to November of 2009, using online White Page listings to search for South Asian-sounding names.

Melinda Soto acknowledged she would knock on doors during the day to see if anyone was home, and if not, she would sit in their rented car and monitor a police scanner while her husband and another man, Francisco Gray, 40, broke in and searched for gold and other valuables. About $600,000 worth of gold and other items were taken in 37 burglaries, authorities said.

The trio were arrested in the Clifton area in November 2009, but released after judges in Fairfax and Loudoun found no evidence in their car or hotel room tying them to any one burglary. Gray was then deported to Peru, and has not been located since.

Federal prosecutors picked up the case and last summer charged the trio with conspiracy to transport stolen goods across state line. The Sotos pleaded guilty, and Melinda Soto was sentenced last month to three years in prison.

Dagoberto Soto is a career criminal dating to age nine, prosecutors said in a brief. He faced a recommended sentencing range of 37 to 46 months, and U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema gave him the maximum.

Elanchevian Sivatnanam of Chantilly was one of the ring's victims, and he was disappointed with the sentence. He said the burglars disabled his home's electronic security system in May 2009 and made off with $92,000 worth of 24-karat gold handed down through his family, as well as passports and green cards.

The Sotos agreed to make restitution of $590,860, but in $200 monthly chunks to the 37 victim families. None of the stolen items was ever recovered.

I wouldn't be waiting for one of those $200 checks anytime soon.