News

Man caught stealing trees from Calverton preserve apologizes to DEC police

A man from El Salvador was caught green-handed last week trying to swipe six trees, which carry a wholesale value of about $100 each, from a Calverton preserve, authorities said.
Police with the state Department of Environmental Conservation busted Gilberto Arturo Bonilla-Sorta last Thursday, his birthday, while he was loading his 2001 Chevy pickup at state land off Fresh Pond Avenue.
“I took four trees, I’m sorry; you’ll never see me here again,” he told police, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota’s office.
Bonilla-Sorta, who gave officers a Burtonsville, Md. address, pleaded guilty Monday to trespassing, disorderly conduct and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle on state land, prosecutors said.
There was an immigration hold on the man. The feds are in the process of determining if he is subject to deportation, officials said.
MICHAEL WHITE