Ex-client charged with arson in fires at law firm and prosecutor's office gets 16 years
A New Jersey man was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to crimes related to fires set earlier this year at the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office and a Vineland law firm.
Felix R. Lopez, 30, pleaded guilty to arson and employing a juvenile in the commission of a second-degree crime, the South Jersey Times reports. The juvenile apparently was not prosecuted.
The fires occurred within hours of each other in late January at Helmer Conley & Kasselman and the prosecutor’s office in Bridgeton.
Lopez was reportedly a client of the law firm. To avoid a conflict of interest, the case was prosecuted in Gloucester County.
Two other men also were charged in connection with the case.
Guillermo A. Veloz, 20, pleaded guilty to arson earlier and got five years. Zilia Perez, 38, may have driven Lopez and Veloz to the arson sites, the Times says. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson, but is now seeking to withdraw her plea.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “3 charged with arson in fires at prosecutor’s office and law firm”
ABAJournal.com: “Five months after fire, lawyers are back at work in rehabbed office; arson case is ongoing”
