DA: Hudson Valley Man Stole From Neighbor’s Home and Set Fire to Home

The Hudson Valley man who was found guilty of stealing from his neighbor’s home and then attempting to burn it down had his appeal heard.

On Oct. 2013, Justin Elmendorf, along with Michael Sanicola, kicked down the door of his neighbor’s home, stole a number of rifles, a handgun and a dirt bike. Sometime later the two returned to the victim’s residence and attempted to burn the house and garage down by dousing the structures with gasoline and lighting them on fire.

Elmendorf threw a Molotov cocktail into the living room to ignite the residence. Soon  firefighters and police responded to the scene.

On March 11, 2014, Elmendorf pled guilty in the Ulster County Court to 1st-degree burglary and agreed to be sentenced to 12 years in state prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.

According to the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, during the course of the sentencing proceedings when Elmendorf became belligerent, disrespectful, and threatened violence to the court, the court refused to abide by the agreement.

After giving Elmendorf the option of withdrawing his plea or being sentenced without any promise as to the sentence to be imposed, he indicated he wanted to go forward with sentencing. Ulster County Court then sentenced him to a 15 year state prison sentence with five years of post-release supervision.

On appeal, Elmendorf argued that the enhanced sentence was unduly harsh and severe. The Appellate Division Third Department rejected his claim due to the gravity of the crimes, his criminal history and evidence that he would continue to commit crimes in the future.