22 Years In the Pen for Convicted Downers Grove Burglar

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin praised the 22-year sentence handed down by a judge, saying that the long sentence would keep society safe from the likes of Steve Mantucca, a Mt. Sterling man convicted for a 2012 Downers Grove burglary.

Mantucca, 51, pleaded guilty to one count residential burglary in front of Judge John Kinsella, and was promptly sentenced to 22 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on Friday.

According to the charge. Mantucca entered his victim’s apartment through a window in the late afternoon of June 28, 2012, the state’s attorney’s office said. Once inside, he proceeded to fill a backpack with cash and items from the home. During the burglary, the victim returned to discover Mantucca inside the apartment.

After a brief tussle, Mantucca fled the apartment, leaving his glasses behind. Downers Grove police tested the glasses for DNA through the Illinois State Crime Lab. The DNA test led authorities to Mantucca, whose DNA is on the convicted felons database.

On June 27, 2013, almost a year to the day when the burglary was committed, a $75,000 arrest warrant was issued for Mantucca. That same day, he was remanded from the Illinois Department of Corrections where he was serving a nine-year sentence for attempted residential burglary out of Cook County. Mantucca has remained in the custody of the DuPage County Sheriff ever since, a state’s attorney news advisory said.

“The sentence handed down by Judge Kinsella will keep society safe from Mr. Mantucca for a very long time,” Berlin said. “The sentence will also serve as a deterrent to others that this type of brazen behavior will not be tolerated and will be met with the full force of the law.”