A Dunkirk man, who was convicted of a 2016 kidnapping in a retrial that took place in June, is headed to state prison.

Samuel Saeli, 46, has been sentenced by Judge Paul B. Wojtasek to 19 years in state prison with 20 years of post-release supervision after he was convicted by a Chautauqua County jury of second-degree kidnapping as a sexually motivated felony.

The case was reheard after a New York appeals court dismissed a 16-year state prison sentence and ordered a new trial.

In that ruling, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Fourth Department, reversed two convictions against Saeli — second-degree kidnapping and second-degree kidnapping as a sexually motivated felony.

Saeli kidnapped a 13-year-old boy from the Fredonia Walmart parking lot in August 2016. The victim reportedly entered Saeli’s vehicle and left the parking lot, but was reunited with his family about 40 minutes later near Cushing Street in Fredonia.

In their ruling, the appellate justices said Chautauqua County Court erred in denying Saeli’s motion during the trial when he sought to suppress evidence obtained from a search warrant. The evidence, a portion of his internet searches, was discovered when police used a warrant to go through his cell phone.

In his appeal, Saeli said the search warrant lacked “particularity” in that it wasn’t specific to the internet search history.

The appeals court agreed.

After a trial in 2018, the victim’s mother told the OBSERVER that “justice was served for my boy and our family.” The mother also indicated that her son and Saeli did not know each other.

Saeli initially had been charged with second-degree kidnapping, a class B felony, after video footage showed him leaving Walmart with the boy. The District Attorney’s Office later added the sexually-motivated felony charge after a forensic investigation confirmed the presence of Saeli’s DNA present on the boy and his clothing.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt was lead counsel for the prosecution at the recent trial and successfully argued for the imposition of a higher sentence than that which was imposed previously. He was joined in the trial presentation by Second Assistant Emily Woodard.

Thursday night, he issued a statement on the result.

“After eight years of litigation following this horrific crime, we can now finally close the book on Mr. Saeli knowing that he will remain behind bars where he won’t harm any more children. Although courts are generally required to adhere to their prior sentence following a retrial, I sought to obtain the maximum prison and post-release sentence provided under the law, that of 25 years of imprisonment plus 25 years of post-release supervision, which would have represented a significant and unprecedented upward modification of Mr. Saeli’s previous sentence. Special thanks goes to my colleague Ms. Woodard for constructing the legal framework which Judge Wojtasek ultimately followed to sentence higher.

“Although I did not get as much prison time as I wanted, 19 years is not insubstantial and Mr. Saeli now faces double the supervision time he will spend on parole when he is eventually released. He will then be subject to the rules and restrictions imposed upon convicted sex offenders with the threat of further incarceration should he violate those restrictions.

“It’s my hope that yesterday’s sentence serves as a deterrence to other child molesters and those who prey on the vulnerable who might consider acting on their sick urges. To those persons reading this, know that justice delayed does not equate with justice denied, that law enforcement does not stop, tire or delay in its efforts to hold criminals accountable for the harm they perpetrate on the innocent, no matter how protracted the proceedings become, and we will eventually catch, try and convict you; that’s our promise.

“We could not have achieved this end-result without the hard work and dedication of Fredonia Police which not only led the investigation but stayed with the case all this time, through three trials, and were present in the courtroom at yesterday’s sentence. This is yet another example of our local police officers going above and beyond to service our community, many times without the public knowing of their dedication and sacrifice. I say this all the time: police work is especially challenging and dangerous today, and each and every one of us owe our officers a debt of gratitude for doing everything within their means to keep us all safe. It is truly a thankless job at times and they deserve our utmost respect and appreciation.

“I need to acknowledge the victim here who bravely overcame his fears and testified about the sexual assaults committed upon him by Mr. Saeli. No one should endure, let alone have to revisit, such atrocities. From my time spent with him and his family, there is no question that what occurred that August night in 2016 will haunt each of them for the rest of their lives. I truly hope Mr. Saeli’s reconviction and higher prison sentence will help them in what will no doubt be a lengthy, probably lifetime, healing process.

“Each and every one of us, whether we are parents, friends, neighbors or just shoppers at a local Walmart, need to be vigilant, always watchful, always mindful that we live in a world where not everyone thinks the way we do. Not everyone has innocent intentions. It’s unfortunate, but it’s reality. Please keep your children close to you at all times and always be aware of who interacts with them.

“Finally, I wish to give honorable mention to First Assistant Andrew Molitor and Second Assistant Erik Bentley. Andrew, Erik and Emily worked tirelessly on this and the prior trials and have lived with this case for the past eight years, doing everything within the law to ensure Mr. Saeli remains where he lives today and for the next number of years, behind bars. For them, this case went with them everywhere, following them home each night regardless of whether it was a workday, weekend or holiday. They brought it to my attention the day I started this job and I am fortunate to have had them with me to obtain this end-result; thank you.”