A piece of technology has helped crack a massive breaking and entering ring throughout eight Mid-Michigan counties.

A camera, combined with a lot of cooperation, has put two thieves behind bars.

A $300 high-resolution trail camera caught images of a red truck that two criminals allegedly used to rob more than 50 homes.

"When we showed the suspect, when he was in custody, the pictures and said 'who's this,' the guy looked at it and said 'that's me,' " said Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel.

Richard Redman, 44 and Duane Thompson, 42, appeared before a Saginaw County judge to face multiple charges, including criminal enterprise.

Federspiel said the men are no strangers to the criminal justice system and that they were parolled in march.

"These two individuals are hardened criminals," Federspiel said. "These two people served 20 years apiece in the penal system here in the state of Michigan."

The men allegedly stole around $100,000 worth of property.

Sheriff Federspiel said the state dropped the ball with these two.

"They're responsible for 50 to 75 home invasions, these two people, and the part that bothers me the most is that the state classified these individuals when they parolled them," Federspiel said. "They classified them as scrappers as their job description."

A description, the sheriff said, allowed them to continue operating under the radar.

Federspiel took the opportunity, not only to tout his department and the cooperation with other departments, but to tell Saginaw County commissioners that cutting up to 16 deputies will cause crimes like these to continue and get worse.