A man who pleaded guilty in 2007 to dousing his ex-girlfriend, her son and himself with gasoline in an attempt to kill everyone by lighting them on fire, will be back in Cayuga County Court after his guilty plea was vacated by the state's Appellate Division due to a sentencing error.

Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said that Richard Walrad, 46, who has only served one year of his 10-year prison term for second-degree attempted murder and second-degree attempted arson, both felonies, was never advised when he pleaded guilty that he would also receive post-release supervision.

David Elkovitch, who handled Walrad's appeal, said that while his client did receive five years of supervision when he was sentenced on March 6, 2007, the sentence was illegal because that component was never mentioned as a part of the plea deal.

According to state law, a defendant convicted of a violent felony is suppose to receive the supervision instead of parole when they are released.

“A defendant has to know what is going to happen when they plead,” Elkovitch said. “They don't have to know exactly, but they have to know the range and what's included with the sentence.”

As a result of the decision, Elkovitch said Walrad would return to Cayuga County Court where his case would have to start from the beginning with the original indictment.

That indictment included an additional count of attempted murder in the second-degree, and two counts of reckless endangerment and one charge of disrupting governmental administration, all misdemeanors.

Walrad would be given the option to re-enter his original guilty plea, but if he decided to pursue a trial, Budelmann said he would seek the maximum sentence of 50 years to life in prison.

Because Walrad has not yet been assigned a new trial attorney, it was not immediately known which course of action he intended to take.

In a second case, the appellate court upheld two 15-years-to-life sentences that Dino Caroselli received for assaulting an officer at Auburn Correctional Facility.

The judges said that the district attorney's office had properly cross-examined witnesses about accusations that Caroselli had been abused by corrections officers.

Caroselli was convicted of felony assault and preventing an officer from doing their duty after he nearly bit off a correction officer's eyebrow. Caroselli had accused the guard of setting him up after he failed a drug test, Budelmann said.

In a third decision, the judges affirmed the eight felony burglary convictions of Paul Driscoll, 18, who filed an appeal on the grounds that he should have been granted youthful offender status.

Budelmann said that given the scope of the burglary convictions, he wanted them to remain on Driscoll's record for the rest of his life to limit any future employment where he would have access to people's money or homes.

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 248 or nate.robson@lee.net