NORRISTOWN — A Bucks County man is headed to prison after he was linked to a burglary in Upper Providence Township when his DNA was identified on the fingertip of a latex glove found at the crime scene.
Enrique Geovani Mulero, 26, of the 2900 block of Knights Road, Bensalem, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 2 to 6 years in a state correctional institution after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft by unlawful taking and conspiracy to commit burglary in connection with an October 2020 incident.
Judge Thomas C. Branca, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Mulero to complete two years of probation following parole, meaning Mulero will be under court supervision for 8 years.
Mulero also is responsible for $3,700 in restitution in connection with the crime.
The investigation began on Oct. 23, 2020, when Upper Providence police responded to a property in the 200 block of Black Rock Road for a report of a burglary, according to a criminal complaint.
A man reported to police that two firearms, ammunition, three chainsaws and tools were stolen from a pole barn and a camper that were ransacked after forced entry. Investigators observed evidence of a pry tool used on the door and windows of the camper as well as shards of glass lying on the ground near broken windows, according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives recovered a small, blue fingertip from a latex glove about four feet from the southwest corner of the camper and it was collected as evidence and submitted to a Pennsylvania State Police crime lab for forensic analysis.
The analysis on the latex glove evidence identified Mulero as a likely contributor of the DNA found on the glove, according to court documents.
During the investigation, a “confidential source” met with detectives and provided information that Mulero and another male, Ricardo Rivera, discussed and planned the burglary and drove together to the Black Rock Road property on Oct. 23, 2020.
The confidential source had additional direct knowledge that Mulero broke a window of the camper and carried several items from the camper and placed them into the back of Rivera’s vehicle, according to the criminal complaint.
The confidential source provided information that Rivera was responsible for breaking into the barn on the property and removed several chainsaws and tools, according to detectives. The investigation determined Mulero and Rivera were responsible for selling the chainsaws to a third party they met through Facebook Messenger for a profit of $1,100, according to court documents.
Additionally, court documents indicate one of the firearms that was stolen from the property was recovered by state police during a narcotics investigation in Lancaster in March 2022.
Rivera, 50, of the 200 block of Crum Creek Drive, Woodlyn, previously pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and theft by unlawful taking in connection with the incident and is awaiting a sentencing hearing, according to court records.
