A look at “Phillip Thomas pleads guilty to stalking Sonya Deville” An armed man accused of cutting a hole in a patio screen and clandestinely watching the WWE wrestler known as Sonya Deville before breaking into her home in an attempt to kidnap her will spend 15 years behind bars.
Phillip A. Thomas, 27, must spend 15 in prison and 15 years on probation for trying to kidnap Deville — real name Daria Berenato — in August of 2020.
Phillip Thomas pleaded guilty to attempting to kidnap the WWE wrestler Sonya Deville. (Mugshot of Thomas: Florida Department of Corrections; screenshot of Deville: WWE)Phillip Thomas pleads guilty to stalking Sonya Deville
Authorities said that on Aug. 15, 2020, Thomas traveled from South Carolina to Hillsborough County, Florida. He parked his car at a church near Berenato’s home and walked over to the residence while possessing items including a knife, zip ties, duct tape, mace, window punches, and a condom, documents stated.
He cut out a hole in the patio screen, and stayed there for about three to four hours watching and listening. Berenato went to bed, and that’s when Thomas entered through the back sliding glass door, deputies said. This set off an alarm, however, giving Berenato, 29, and her house guest Amanda Saccomanno — better known as the WWE wrestler Mandy Rose — enough warning to escape.
“Mrs. Berenato, alerted, went to the door and saw the defendant in the residence with a knife in his hand and the pepper spray in his other hand,” prosecutors wrote a motion to deny bail. “Both victims fled the residence. The defendant remained in the residence, as he believed that the two were upstairs hiding, and he was waiting for them to come downstairs. The defendant was located in the residence and taken into custody.”
