During an appearance in Framingham District Court on May 20, a now-divorced couple pleaded guilty to a Prentice Street robbery that came towards the end of a heroin-fueled crime spree last year.

As first reported by the MetroWest Daily News, 32-year-old Joseph Riccard and his then-wife Danielle Mascarello, 26, pleaded guilty to the April 29, 2010 break-in, one of allegedly 100 such crimes from December 2009 to May 2010, according to court records.

For the Holliston crime, Riccard, of Raynham, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in Billerica House of Corrections for breaking and entering, larceny over $250 and wanton destruction of property.

Mascarello, a New Bedford resident, will serve two years in MCI-Framingham for the same charges. The pair was also ordered to pay $21,500 in restitution.

In the Prentice Street burglary, the couple broke into a side door and went into the master bedroom, stealing jewelry and several antique coins, according to a report field in Framingham District Court by Holliston Police Detective Charles Todd.

Riccard and Mascarello also took some family heirlooms, including artifacts that had survived the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, but failed to enter a wall safe despite repeated attempts.

According to Todd's report, the homeowners theorized that Riccard and Mascarello cased the house, learning the family's routine to pick the proper time to strike. The couple entered the home in the early afternoon, when they knew the home was empty, the report said.

Distressed by the crime, the victims have moved to Colorado, according to court records.

The couple's crime binge began to unravel when Mascarello was interrogated by in connection with a May 29, 2010 robbery in Medway. Mascarello confessed to a rash of burlaries, estimating that the pair had robbed 100 houses since December 2009.

Mascarello was released by Medway Police, but was again questioned in connection with robbery in Mansfield in June. On June 2, 2010, Mansfield Police searched the couple's room at the Red Roof Inn, seizing items taken from homes in Medway, Mansfield, Holliston, Littleton, Foxborough, Norton and Franklin.

Mascarello was again let go to deal with her heroin addiction in detox, but she and her husband landed in the arms of Attleboro Police later in June.

In an October 2010 interview, Mascarello told Mansfield Police that she and Riccard had averaged two break-ins a day since December 2009. According to court records, the couple targeted homes without garages.

Riccard and Mascarello are now in jail after pleading guilty to burlaries in Norfolk and Bristol counties earlier this month. The couple appeared in Ayer District Court on Wednesday regarding break-ins in Ayer, Littleton and Boxborough.