Two Sentenced in Breaking and Entering Case; Defendants Complain on Facebook About Snitches

WAKEFIELD – Two of the four implicated in a North Kingstown breaking and entering arrest from August 2010 pleaded guilty on Feb. 16 in Washington County Superior Court to charges against them.

Jonathan M. Kunze, 20, of 23 Dayton Court, North Kingstown, and Dacia Broccoli, 23, of 27 Whitehall Drive, Warwick, pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiracy, and breaking and entering. Kunze’s charges stem from North Kingstown police, and Broccoli’s are from South Kingstown police.

Superior Court Associate Justice Edwin Gale ordered Kunze to serve a year at the ACI, followed by nine years probation and a nine-year suspended sentence. He was also ordered to pay $1,000 in assessments. His sentence is scheduled to start on March 8.

Broccoli was ordered to serve 18 months home confinement, following a March 8 hearing to determine if she qualifies for it. Following the home confinement, she was ordered to complete an eight-year, six-month suspended sentence and eight years, six months probation. Broccoli was also ordered to pay $1,000 in assessments.

On Nov. 22, a third person involved pleaded no contest to the same charges by North Kingstown police. Steven M. Bourgault, 29, of 442 Gardiner Road, West Kingstown, was ordered to serve five years at the ACI, followed by a five-year suspended sentence and five years probation.

The outcome for a fourth defendant is still pending. Joshua Gellman, 20, of 434 Newcomb Road, North Kingstown, appeared in court on Feb. 16 for a pre-trial conference. His next court date has not been scheduled yet.

Following Gellman’s case’s outcome, a restitution hearing will be scheduled.

According to North and South Kingstown police reports, the charges stem from a break-in at a home on Ferry Road in North Kingstown. Several valuables and safes were taken from the home.

According to police, a relative of the victim was a recovering drug addict, and suspected that past friends had broken into the home. Follow-up detective work and interviews revealed the defendants in possession of items from the home.

According to Kunze’s Facebook wall, which was viewable to the public as of Monday morning, he blames “snitches” for having to change his plea. Kunze also referred to the snitch in saying that “ima have more fun in jail then you will out here.”

Also on Kunze’s Facebook wall, Gellman stated that because of Kunze, Broccoli and Bourgault pleading to the felonies, he would also have to change his plea. Kunze, Broccoli, Gellman and a relative of Bourgault also argue extensively on Kunze’s wall about the source of the snitch.

All four defendants in the case have criminal records, which alter the sentencing of each:

• Bourgault has more than 10 arrests, mostly misdemeanors, dating back to 2001. In Aug. 2005, he pleaded no contest to an East Greenwich police felony charge of assaulting a person older than 60. He was ordered to serve nine months at the ACI, followed by 10 years and three months of probation and a similar suspended sentence. Because this second felony occurred while he was on probation for that felony, he was sentenced to five years at the ACI.
• Kunze pleaded no contest in Sept. 2010 to North Kingstown police charges of violating a no-contact order and domestic vandalism. He was ordered to serve a year of probation, and to complete domestic violence and substance abuse counseling. He pleaded no contest in Oct. 2010 to a North Kingstown police charge of disorderly conduct and was ordered to serve six months probation and a six-month suspended sentence.
• Broccoli pleaded no contest in Sept. 2010 to a North Kingstown police charge of driving while intoxicated. She was ordered to pay a fine, to complete 20 hours of community service, to surrender her license for three months and to attend DWI school. She pleaded no contest in July 2010 to a Warwick police charge of disorderly conduct and was ordered to complete six months probation and alcohol counseling. She pleaded no contest in May 2008 and June 2008 to Rhode Island State Police and North Kingstown police charges of driving with a suspended license. In both cases, she was ordered to pay court costs.
• Gellman pleaded no contest in Oct. 2010 to a North Kingstown police charge of disorderly conduct and was ordered to serve six months probation and a six-month suspended sentence. He pleaded in Aug. 2010 to a North Kingstown police charge of disorderly conduct and was ordered to complete substance abuse counseling and a year of probation.

Information is compiled from records at Fourth Division District Court and Washington County Superior Court.