Spencer Wayne Allen, a 26-year-old Texan, was sentenced Thursday to almost eight years in prison for setting the fires that damaged three federal buildings in Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced.
District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez sentenced Allen to 93 months of imprisonment for his convictions on charges of arson and malicious damage and destruction to federal property. Gomez also sentenced Allen to three years of supervised released, 300 hours of community service, and a $300 special assessment.
According to the plea agreement filed with the court, on Feb. 28, 2017, Allen maliciously damaged the U.S. Navy and Marine Recruitment Center in the Nisky Shopping Center on St. Thomas by means of fire, resulting in the center’s destruction. The same day, Allen damaged by fire two other properties belonging to the United States – the Ron de Lugo Federal Building and United States Courthouse and the U.S. Coast Guard Station.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, with the assistance of the Virgin Islands Territory Emergency Management Agency, V.I. Police Department, Virgin Islands Port Authority, the Virgin Islands Fire Service, and the Virginia Beach Fire Department Fire Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith J. Edwards and Everard E. Potter.
