BOSTON, April 3, 2014— A Dorchester man was identified as the suspect in a 2012 housebreak after DNA analysis on a cigarette butt he allegedly left at the scene, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MICHAEL J. FORTUNE (D.O.B. 2/1/54) was arraigned yesterday in Dorchester Municipal Court on charges of breaking and entering during the daytime to commit a felony, larceny over $250, and being a common and notorious thief. The charges stem from a 2012 burglary on Blue Hill Avenue.

Fortune has previously been convicted of larceny in 2005, 2003, 1994, 1982, and 1981, and of larceny of a motor vehicle in 1992, prosecutors said. In addition, he has multiple convictions for shoplifting, receiving stolen property, and possession of burglarious tools dating back to 1977.

Assistant District Attorney Marc Tohme requested bail of $2,000 and that Fortune be ordered to wear a GPS monitor, stay away from the location where the incident occurred, and stay away and have no contact with any victims or witnesses.  Judge Debra Shopteese released Fortune on his own recognizance but granted the no-contact order.

According to prosecutors, Boston Police were called to a Blue Hill Avenue apartment on Dec. 9, 2012, after the resident had returned home after two months away to find two LCD televisions and a jar containing approximately $300 in cash were missing.  Officers found the remains of a smoked cigarette on the kitchen table; the resident was a non-smoker, however, and told police that the cigarette butt was not there when he left.

The cigarette was taken to the Boston Police Crime Laboratory, where a DNA profile on the cigarette was matched to Fortune, who had submitted a DNA sample because of prior convictions.  The victim told police that he did not know Fortune and did not give him permission to enter the apartment, and detectives obtained a warrant for Fortune’s arrest. He surrendered himself in court on that warrant yesterday.

Fortune is represented by Rajarshi Sinha.  He will return to court on May 5.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.