Alejandro Cruz of Staten Island was sentenced to 12 years to life in state prison after pleading guilty to attempted burglary, a violent felony.

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe announced Monday that Cruz, 43, had pled guilty in May. Zugibe said Cruz attempted to burglarize a home on Bell Lane in Chestnut Ridge on March 21 and that Cruz also illegally entered and robbed five other homes in Chestnut Ridge, Pearl River, Nanuet and New City in the nine days leading up to his arrest by a Town of Clarkstown police in early May.

Cruz was picked up in Nanuet by a burglary task force that had been initiated in response to the string of burglaries. According to Zugibe, the defendant gained access to the houses by throwing a rock or brick through a door or window and stole cash and coins along with men's watches.

The plea marked Cruz's fourth violent felony conviction since April 2007 and fifth felony conviction overall. All of his convictions have been for burglary.