Two men pleaded guilty and accepted imprisonment today rather than face trial on charges that they stole as much as $100,000 in merchandise from Copley Square businesses last year, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ROBERT DAVIDSON (D.O.B. 6/2/64) of Dorchester admitted to single counts of unarmed robbery and larceny over $250, receiving one and a half to two years in the House of Correction followed by 2 years of probation. KENNETH JAMES (D.O.B. 12/11/67) of Quincy admitted to receiving stolen property and larceny over $250, receiving three to five years in prison.

Had the case proceeded to trial, Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Goldberger of Conley’s Special Prosecution Unit would have introduced eyewitness testimony to prove that Davidson and a group of unknown suspects stole several dozen pairs of Cartier eyeglasses from the Optical Shop of Aspen on Newbury Street on the evening of Dec. 16. Goldberger also would have introduced images and text messages from James’ cell phone showing his attempts to sell some of those glasses.

Goldberger also would have proven the men’s connection to a Dec. 23 theft in which a group of men stole 15 Louis Vuitton handbags from the Louis Vuitton at Saks store in Copley Place. Store security chased the men as they fled from the store and apprehended James with 13 of the bags; responding Boston Police apprehended Davidson with the other two.

Both men had criminal records at the time of the thefts, including drug and uttering convictions for Davidson and armed robbery convictions for James. The defendants were represented by attorneys Eliot Levine and Steven Sack, respectively.