WARSAW — Donald O’Geen was serving as first assistant district attorney in 2001 when he first encountered Dominic Mainella Jr.
Mainella, then living in Blasdell, had committed a home-invasion burglary of a house on French Road in Bennington.
It wasn’t the first time Mainella had committed burglary: That same year he also burglarized a home in Genesee County and had already served two state prison terms for burglaries and grand larcenies in Erie County.
O’Geen prosecuted Mainella for the Bennington burglary and pursued the maximum possible punishment for him: 15 years.
O’Geen got what he wanted and Mainella was sentenced to 15 years.
On April 27 O’Geen will asking a judge for a much more severe prison term for Mainella: A life sentence as a persistent felony offender.
Mainella on March 2 was found guilty of second-degree burglary, third-degree criminal mischief and petit larceny after a three-day bench trial in front of Judge Michael Mohun.
Mainella used his employer’s delivery truck as cover when he pulled into a driveway in Arcade Nov. 19, 2021.
Mainella got out and damaged a garage door to enter the house, where he stole cash from a wallet. No one was home at the time.
Ten days later Mainella used the same delivery truck to drive to a house in Machias, Cattaraugus County. Mainella stole jewelry.
Mainella faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if Mohun does not agree to persistent felon status after the April 27 hearing.
O’Geen said the court has discretion to sentence Mainella as a persist felony offender under state law and “may impose such a sentence only if, after conducting a hearing, the court finds that the history and character of the defendant and the nature and circumstances of his criminal conduct indicate that extended incarceration and life-time supervision will best serve the public interest.”
O’Geen obviously believes Mainella perfectly fits that description.
“I personally prosecuted Mr. Mainella back in 2001 and now 20 years later I prosecuted him again for the same crime,” O’Geen said. “During all but five years of the past 35 years of his life Mr. Mainella has either been in prison, on parole, on probation or committing new crimes. It is clear that Mr. Mainella is incapable of living among us without committing crimes. He is a serial burglar who continues to shatter the sanctity of victim’s homes.
“It is my hope that Mr. Mainella’s reign will be finally over.”
If Mainella is determined to be a persistent felon, Mohun could sentence him to 15 years to life or a maximum of 25 years to life, with lifetime parole supervision.
O’Geen praised “the excellent investigative work of Inv. Bradley McGinnis of the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department, the cooperation of Google, Inc. who provided a witness from out of state and the San Jose County Prosecutor’s Office who also assisted my office in obtaining the witness from Google.”
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