October 27, 2017

Geneva man sentenced to 30 days in jail, 2 years probation in arson incidents

ST. CHARLES TOWNSHIP – A Geneva man, who had been charged with seven felonies related to throwing Molotov cocktails at a house and a truck, was sentenced Oct. 19 to 30 days in jail and two years of probation in a plea agreement.

Dominic M. Castelvecchi, 20, of the 600 block of Cheever Avenue, Geneva, pleaded guilty to one charge of arson to the pickup truck and a reduced charge of arson – instead of residential arson to the house – in order to qualify for probation, his attorney David Camic said.

The other charges – including aggravated arson, a Class X felony – were dismissed as part of the agreement, Camic said.

“We put together a mitigation package,” Camic said. “He’s not a bad kid. He had a bad event.”

Castelvecchi also has to pay $10,772.30 in restitution to the homeowner and the owner of the truck, records show; court fines are also included in that amount.

“He and his co-defendants are responsible for that,” Camic said.

Castelvecchi, who was 18 at the time of the incident on April 23, 2016, was charged on June 29, along with two juvenile boys, police said.

Castelvecchi will qualify for day-for-day jail time, so he will serve 15 days altogether, seven days in November and eight days in January, Camic said.

If Castelvecchi had been convicted of the most serious of the felony charges – aggravated arson when people are present – he could have been sentenced from six to 30 years in prison and fined up to $25,000.

According to Geneva police reports, on April 23, 2016, Castelvecchi and three juveniles were drinking and talked about making a Molotov cocktail – an incendiary device made from a bottle filled with flammable liquid and some type of ignition.

They drove to Castelvecchi’s house where he retrieved a glass bottle, filled it with gasoline and affixed a paper towel as a wick to the top of the bottle, police reports state.

Sometime between 2 and 3 a.m., they threw the Molotov cocktail at a 2000 Ford F-150 pickup truck in the 100 block of Abbey Lane, according to reports.

One of the group went home after this arson, while the rest went back to Castelvecchi’s house to make another Molotov cocktail, police reports stated.

Then the trio went to a house in the 900 block of Meadows Road where they thought people would be inside, police reports state.

A boy in the remaining group walked up to the front patio with a lit Molotov cocktail and threw it, causing an explosion and fire, police reports state.

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