Hapless Norristown Burglar Sentenced to 25-to-50 Years Under Pa.'s 'Three Strikes' Law

Norristown Patch reported . Roselli was reportedly captured by the hockey stick-wielding homeowner who came home and caught him in the act.

According to The Times Herald, the 44-year-old Roselli (Original reports and some court documents give his age as 25, but those same court documents list prior burglary convictions as early as 1989.) was sentenced on Tuesday, July 10, to 25 to 50 years in prison for that burglary. The stiff sentence was a result of Pennsylvania's "Three Strikes" law aimed at violent and repeat offenders.

"We offered Mr. Roselli a reasonable sentence, based on the circumstances and his criminal history. He chose to turn down that sentence," Assistant District Attorney John Walko told the Herald. "We made him well aware that if he were to proceed to a jury trial that we would impose the third strike mandatory sentence."

According to court documents, Roselli has at least two prior burglary convictions as well as prior convictions for DUI, assault and robbery.

In this most recent incident, Roselli was caught when the homeowner returned home shortly after midnight on Jan. 19, 2011 and found him in the garage pulling a rolling suitcase and carrying a laptop computer, an iPad and two champagne bottles he had taken from the house. The owner picked up a hockey stick and pursued Roselli inside through the house, out into the street and around the block, threatening to hit him if he did not drop the belongings. The chase apparently never got faster than walking speed as the streets were covered in ice.

Roselli, who was reportedly intoxicated, eventually dropped the items as he climbed a fence into the backyard of the house he had been burglarizing. In the yard, Roselli encountered the homeowner's girlfriend and as he walked toward her, Roselli was struck by the hockey-stick wielding homeowner. He was struck a second time when he attempted to get up and again moved in the direction of the woman. 

When police arrived, the reported Roselli to be in possession of stolen watches, jewelry, a camera, a GPS unit, money from the Cayman Islands and a golf tool, all valued at almost $16,000.

Read more about Roselli's conviction here.

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