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A man who wanted to withdraw his guilty plea to conspiring to burglarize an elderly couple’s Wilkes-Barre home lost his appeal.

Cortez Romeo Anderson, 29, formerly of O’Neill Avenue, Wilkes-Barre, was charged by city police in March 2018 with smashing a window at a home on Madison Street and rummaging through a kitchen and bedroom stealing jewelry, cash and a purse.

Anderson stood accused of ransacking the home March 22, 2018, as a 68-year-old woman and her husband, 70, slept. The wife discovered her home had been burglarized when she felt cold air in the living room and noticed the smashed window, court records say.

Police arrested Anderson when he was caught leaving his residence carrying a purse. Jewelry stolen from the Madison Street home was recovered from inside Anderson’s residence, according to court records.

Under a negotiated plea agreement with prosecutors, Anderson pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit burglary while charges of burglary, criminal trespass, theft and receiving stolen property were withdrawn.

Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas accepted the plea deal.

At a sentencing hearing Jan. 31, 2019, Anderson was told he faced 33 months to six years in state prison. Prior to Lupas imposing the sentence, Anderson requested to withdraw his guilty plea because he believed he was “going home” on probation, court records say.

Anderson claimed in his appeal his public defender, “Was telling him nonsense,” and to “Sign the plea,” and at his next court appearance, “He would be going home.”

Lupas denied Anderson’s request to withdrawal his guilty plea and sentenced him to two years, nine months to seven years in state prison followed by two years probation.

“The trial court stated that Anderson’s reason for wishing to withdraw his guilty plea, that he thought he would be going home defies logic and is simply not credible,” a three member panel of the state Superior Court ruled in an eight page opinion issued Wednesday that upheld Anderson’s sentence.

Convicted burglar who believed he was ‘going home’ loses appeal