ST. GEORGE — A parolee released from federal prison last summer and connected to a cold case involving a business burglary with losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars also reportedly went on a spending spree in Las Vegas.
Steven Nicholas Festa, 39, is in jail in Washington County on a U.S. Marshals hold following a parole violation report that was submitted to federal court last month.
Festa was sentenced to prison on a federal weapons case filed in June 2020 that initially began with a fraud investigation that was opened by the Enoch Police Department, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court. A second warrant was issued for his arrest in February after a series of parole violations were included in a report that was later filed in federal court involving alleged drug use and communications with individuals involved in criminal activity.
One violation listed had to do with a new case filed in St. George, but no other details were included in the summary.
And as it turned out, the St. George case was a 2019 cold case involving a burglary reported at a business in the fall of that year. It remained unsolved until the St. George Police Department received a call in January from a detective in Cedar City that would break the case wide open.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the arrest, St. George Police detectives received information that Festa was the suspect allegedly responsible for a business burglary that reportedly took place in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2019, where Festa allegedly “stole a bunch of money,” after prying one of the doors open with a crowbar, the detective noted.
At the time of the original report, the owner told detectives that cash was the only thing taken during the incident, and when he was contacted by detectives again in January, the owner explained that over the past 35 years or so, he had thrown any extra cash he had in an envelope that he placed in one of the filing cabinets located inside of the business. When he got to the building that morning, he said, he realized the money was gone.
When asked, the owner estimated there was between $10,000 and $30,000 that he had placed in numerous envelopes over the course of the last three decades that were still in the cabinet when the business was broken into.
What detectives would learn later was the envelopes reportedly taken from the filing cabinet that night contained nearly $500,000, according to information gleaned from an informant.
At the time of the incident, the suspect gained entry into the business by prying open the side door, and minutes later, the report states that Festa returned to his vehicle empty-handed – initially.
After driving off, however, the witness stated that Festa realized he had left the crowbar, and it wasn’t until he returned to the business to retrieve the crowbar that he decided to check the filing cabinet.
When he did so, the report states, he allegedly found the envelopes that were loaded into a box that was sitting empty next to the cabinet. The suspect took the box and fled the building.
From there, investigators allege the suspect headed to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he counted the money and discovered that the envelopes contained nearly $500,000, which is when he allegedly booked a room at Venetian resort for two nights where he lost more than $100,000 at a blackjack table, one witness told police.
The suspect also purchased jewelry, multiple vehicles and numerous gift cards, all paid for in cash, and after spending a week in Nevada, he returned to Utah.
Detectives also learned the suspect had reportedly taken one of the vehicles to Mexico to trade it for drugs, but on the way back he reportedly became involved in a road rage incident with two Hispanic men, and during the altercation the suspect claimed that he “ran two of them over, possibly killing them,” police learned, before fleeing back into the U.S. in the Jeep, as noted in the report.
In the original case file, detectives found photos of the pry marks left on the side door of the business that were consistent with a crowbar, along with surveillance footage captured near the business that showed a dark shadowy figure walking towards the shop shortly after 2 a.m. on the morning of the incident.
Also in the file were shoe impressions and other evidence allegedly linking Festa to the break-in, and investigators also gathered information on the vehicles reportedly purchased by the suspect with the funds that police say were taken from the filing cabinet.
Additionally, the report also says the statements made to police were supported by the evidence collected throughout the course of the investigation.
When officers attempted to speak with the suspect in February, according to the affidavit, Festa refused on the advice of counsel, and shortly thereafter the case was submitted to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review.
On Feb. 9, multiple charges were filed in 5th District Court in St. George; including one second-degree felony count each of theft and theft by deception, along with third-degree felony burglary. He was also charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief.
Two weeks later, a warrant was issued for the suspect’s arrest. At the time the charges were filed, Festa was already in federal custody in Pahrump, Nevada, and on May 11, he was transported to Utah by the U.S. Marshals Service and booked into jail in Washington County.
On Monday, the suspect appeared in federal court where U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Kohler ordered that Festa remain in federal custody and both cases are still pending in the courts.
Meanwhile, through the course of the investigation of the June 2020 case, detectives in Enoch were executing a search warrant at a home when they learned that several days before, Festa had reportedly entered the home armed with a gun that he pointed at several of the occupants while demanding to speak to one of the residents that lived there, but who was not home at the time, the court record states.
The suspect reportedly tucked the firearm in
his waistband and sat down while he waited for the individual to return home, and after an hour or so, the report states, Festa “became tired of waiting” and left.
When investigators ran a background check on the suspect they discovered there were multiple prior convictions for burglary, fraud, drugs and firearm offenses.
At some point during the investigation, court records indicate that an agent with the Department of Homeland Security Investigation became involved in the case.
After several failed attempts to locate the suspect, Festa was spotted by an officer in Cedar City and he was taken into custody by police.
During a search of the suspect’s vehicle, officers recovered a 9 mm Canik handgun from the center console that was loaded with 18 rounds and a bullet in the chamber. The firearm was purchased at a store in Cedar City for $1,429 in March 2020. Festa reportedly paid for the gun and other items with a check that later turned out to be written on an account that was closed several months prior to the purchase. Video footage recovered later showed the suspect inside the store buying the gun.
Investigators discovered that Festa was on an interstate compact agreement that allowed him to be on parole in Utah for convictions for burglary and firearm offenses filed in California, for which he served three stints in prison, according to information obtained by agents after speaking to Adult Probation and Parole.
On June 20, 2020, the case was filed in federal court in Utah and a warrant was issued for the suspect’s arrest on one felony count of felon in possession of a firearm. He was arrested soon after and was ultimately sentenced to serve 18 months in a federal correctional facility in January 2021.
A few months into his sentence, the defendant filed a motion for early release due to a health condition that would require him to be on dialysis – a motion that was denied and he was released from federal custody in July, 2021.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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