A Philadelphia man already serving a 10-to-20-year prison term for burglary will serve an additional 3-1/2 to seven years for his theft of more than $140,000 from an 82-year-old Ross woman five years ago.

Steve Mitchell, 62, pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy and receiving stolen property on Wednesday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Anthony M. Mariani.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a home on Siebert Road on the afternoon of June 15, 2015, for the report of a burglary.

The home owner, Patricia Karis, 82, said that her safe, which contained $140,000 in cash and $30,000 in U.S. Treasury savings bonds, was missing.

The woman told police she had been outside all day working in the yard, when a heavy-set man in his mid-to-late 50s — later identified as Mitchell — approached her, the criminal complaint said.

He told her he was installing a fence for her neighbor whose house is behind hers and he asked her where the property line was.

“He kept her in the back yard for approximately 20 minutes before they walked to the front of the home,” the complaint said.

The man then said he had to get something from his truck and walked away.

When the woman later went back in her home, she saw that the basement lights were on. She then found that her floor-model safe had been stolen.

Video surveillance showed the suspect returning to a grey truck with an object matching the size and shape of the safe covered by a blanket or towels in the bed.

Two weeks later, police in West View had a similar burglary call, and Mitchell was taken into custody.

Mitchell was also charged for several residential burglaries in Cumberland County, where he pleaded guilty in 2017 and was ordered to serve 10 to 20 years in state prison.

In August 2019, Mitchell was interviewed by Allegheny County investigators and admitted his involvement in the Ross burglary, the complaint said.

Mitchell told police he was the “distractor” who approached the woman and talked about the fence installation.

“As Mitchell was distracting the victim, two other suspects entered the victim’s residence as a fourth suspect remained in the truck,” the complaint said.

Mitchell then received word via a two-way radio that the others were done, and he walked away.

In a victim impact statement, the victim’s son, Gregory Karis, said that the burglary has caused both he and his mom to trust fewer people.

The money that was stolen, he said, was earned by his deceased father in the demolition business.

He said the financial devastation has been immense.

“The loss of this money has caused my mother to watch her money more closely now, and now isn’t able to enjoy a lot of the things she had hoped to,” he said. “The stress from this crime has been very tough to deal with, causing headaches, resentment and anger, and unfortunately my mother and I distrust people a lot more now, and are more fearful as well.”

According to the DA’s office, Mitchell was notorious for these types of burglaries up and down the East Coast.

Three co-conspirators were never identified.

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