A 28-year-old Batavia man has entered a guilty plea for using an incendiary device in a Spring Grove Village grocery store. Donald Donatelli was admitted to the U.S. District Court for causing a fire that damaged the store, a building involved in interstate commerce, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
The incident occurred late on the evening of Nov. 26, 2023, as the store's owner and his wife were inside the premises during business hours. Traveling with a co-defendant to the grocery store on Gwinnet Drive, Donatelli executed the act, which included a bottle filled with gasoline and fitted with a rag. Upon lighting the rag, he threw the make-do Molotov cocktail through the front glass doors while his accomplice captured the event on a Snapchat video.
In today's announcement, U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker and Special Agent in Charge Daryl S. McCormick of the ATF disclosed that the presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Matthew W. McFarland, received Donatelli's guilty plea. The plea deal includes a sentence recommendation of 66 months behind bars.
In April, the federal grand jury indicted Donatelli and his associate, Angela Schweitzer. While Donatelli has admitted his part in the deliberate damage, 35-year-old Schweitzer continues facing unresolved charges. Yet to publicly comment, Assistant United States Attorney Megan Gaffney Painter represents the government in this ongoing case.
The seriousness of the crime has been stressed by the collaboration amongst multiple agencies, including the Cincinnati Fire Department, Cincinnati Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, and Union Township Police Department, acknowledged by Parker and McCormick. They have played instrumental roles in bringing the case to this juncture.
