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Man gets 30 days in jail for firebombing house, truck

A Geneva man was sentenced Thursday to 30 days in jail for firebombing a house and pickup truck in April 2016.

Dominic Castelvecchi, 19, will also pay more than $10,000 in restitution to two people, according to the plea agreement he made.

Castelvecchi pleaded guilty to Class 1 felonies of residential arson and possession of an explosive or incendiary device. Prosecution of charges of aggravated arson, arson and criminal damage to property were dropped. He could have been sentenced up to 15 years in prison.

According to Geneva police, Castelvecchi and two friends were drinking alcohol near the Fox River the evening of April 23, 2016, when they decided to go to Castelvecchi's house and make Molotov cocktails using liquor bottles.

"Let's get (one of the victims)," Castelvecchi said. One of his friends threw the device at the man's pickup truck, parked in a driveway in the 100 block of Abbey Lane. The fire destroyed it.

They returned to Castelvecchi's home, made another device, and threw it at a patio of a house in the 900 block of Meadows Road.

Because Castelvecchi is attending college, the state's attorney's office agreed he can serve the jail time later, in stretches of seven and eight days. He can receive day-for-day credit, so he may only serve 15 days. He will also have to complete a counseling program for juvenile fire-setters, and be evaluated for drug and alcohol use.

He will be on probation two years, and was ordered to have no contact with the victims nor his co-defendants, who were adjudicated in juvenile court. He also can't be in contact with another friend, who lives next to one of the victims. The victim and that family have had disputes.

If Castelvecchi had been convicted of the most serious charge, the aggravated arson, he could have been sentenced up to 30 years in prison, with no probation possible.

"You need to understand, this disposition is a one-shot deal," Judge David Kliment told Castelvecchi. "It is unlikely I would grant another chance. ... Stay in school, get good grades and follow the terms of your probation."

Police reports

Geneva man charged with firebombing a house, truck in April

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