New York Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Multiple Burglaries of Nonprofit Organization

Louis Thomas Menatac, 61, appeared before the Loudoun County Circuit Court for sentencing for his convictions of one count of Breaking and Entering, one count of Possession of Burglarious Tools, and one count of Wearing a Mask in Public to Conceal Identity. The Honorable Matthew P. Snow sentenced Menatac to serve an active sentence of 10 years in the Virginia Department of Corrections. Menatac is also required to pay over $23,000 in restitution to the charitable organization he burglarized. 

In the late summer of 2024, Menatac traveled from New York for the purpose of breaking into several non-profit donation centers in our area to steal cash. He specifically targeted the charitable organizations as they often deal in cash more frequently than other stores due to the low-dollar value of their items. 

Menatac arrived at his targeted location in Sterling after business hours and was well prepared to steal. He wore a stocking mask and gloves to conceal his identity, removed alarm boxes from the rear exterior doors of the donation center, entered the store, and made his way to the main office. Once there, he disabled a security camera and used the tools that he brought to cut into the store’s safe. Menatac stole over $9,000 in cash in that incident. 

In total, Menatac caused $23,114 in losses to the charitable organization in Loudoun County from two robberies, and similar charges are pending against Menatac in a neighboring jurisdiction. Law enforcement recovered a notebook containing several addresses of non-profit donation centers when they apprehended Menatac, and the two burglarized locations in Loudoun had checkmarks next to them. 

“Targeting a non-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization, that exists to provide free job training, education, and employment services for people with disabilities, disadvantages, or other barriers to employment is despicable. We hope that this sentence sends the message that the legal community in Loudoun takes these types of crimes very seriously,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Anderson.

During the sentencing hearing, Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Eden Holmes highlighted Menatac’s extensive criminal history. “Mr. Menatac has built a prolific criminal career that literally stretches from East to West Coast, which has involved a total of nine states and at least fifteen different jurisdictions. His first convictions came in 1982 and has now stretched over four decades.” Holmes noted that Menatac “has no demonstrated ties to Loudoun County. He came into our community to rob a [non-profit] store … The deplorable, selfish nature of these acts cannot be understated … A sentence meaningfully above the guidelines is appropriate, due to the aggravation of his criminal history and the facts of the case.”

Before he pronounced Menatac’s sentence, Judge Snow said, “your criminal history dates back to the 1980s … You have been involved with the criminal justice system for forty years … The businesses targeted are set-up to help people.” Snow noted that the upward deviation from the recommended sentencing guidelines, more than double, was due to the repeated patten and targeting of a non-profit organization.  

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