NEWPORT BEACH : Thief’s Sentence Is Ruled Too Lenient

An appeals court ruled Monday that a judge imposed too lenient a sentence on a jewel thief who burglarized posh Newport Beach homes by posing as a utility repairman and using a cherry-picker truck to climb in windows.

Daniel Dominick Principato, 38, pleaded guilty last year to two counts of residential burglary and one count of attempted burglary. The prosecution contended that he was a career criminal, with seven prior felony convictions for burglary and rape, and one forgery conviction.

By law, Principato should have been sentenced to a minimum of 36 years and a maximum of 44 years, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul E. Odwald.

But in return for the guilty plea, Orange County Superior Court Judge Donald A. McCartin sentenced him to 24 years. To do so, the judge disregarded three of the prior convictions, despite objections from the prosecution.

“He’s been committing felonies since 1970 or 1971,” Odwald said, “. . . and he just keeps on getting out and doing it again. So I felt he should receive a lengthy prison sentence.”

The district attorney’s office appealed. In a decision released Monday, the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana agreed that the sentence was improper.

Principato has 30 days to decide whether to plead guilty again and face a longer sentence or stand trial.

According to Odwald, Principato owned a green-and-white truck with a mechanized basket of the type used by utility companies to lift employees to power-line level. He would knock on doors, Odwald alleged, and tell the homeowner that he was there to repair the cable television or electrical wires. Then he would climb in a window and steal jewelry.

He had used the same method in wealthy areas of West Los Angeles and Pasadena, which led to a 1985 conviction, Odwald said. Principato was sentenced to four years for that offense, and was paroled after two years.