Press Release
☷Detroit Area Man Found Guilty of Maliciously Setting Fires to Truck Trailers of Major Commercial Trucking Company
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ( By Press Release office)
Mar 14,2024
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A guy from Michigan was found guilty today by a jury for purposely setting fires to six semi - trailers owned by a big trucking company in California over a period of 10 months . Viorel Pricop , 66 , has been in custody since October 2022 . According to evidence presented in court , Pricop set fire to the trailers which belonged to Swift Transportation , a trucking company based in Phoenix . Four of the fires happened in San Bernardino County and two in Riverside County . Pricop also set fire to 18 more trailers owned by Swift Transportation in other states . He now faces charges in New Mexico and Arizona as well . U . S . Attorney Martin Estrada said Pricop went on a revenge spree after his previous crime , and his actions were dangerous and reckless . The Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives and other agencies worked together to solve the case . Swift Transportation hired a consultant to investigate the fires . So , there was a pattern that started to emerge when multiple reports started talking about how the trailers were being set on fire . They all had similar methods and the fires were happening in the middle of the night . When they looked into the cell tower data , they found that a specific navigation device in a truck was connecting to the towers near the fires . Turns out , the device was installed on a truck driven by Pricop . They also figured out which cellphone belonged to Pricop and got permission to track its location . The data showed that the cellphone was in the area of all the fires in California and the 18 other fires across the country . In September 2022 , they executed search warrants on Pricop ' s truck , personal vehicle , and house , and found more evidence linking him to the arsons . They found a gas torch , torch - style lighters , and documents with location information that matched up with the fires . Swift Transportation and other trucking companies had been dealing with thefts from 2010 to 2014 . They did their own investigation and used bait trailers to catch the thieves . In 2015 , someone broke into one of the bait trailers and stole electronic goods with tracking devices . Swift investigators traced the stolen goods to a storage facility in Michigan , where Pricop was arrested . He was convicted in 2018 for a tax offense and transportation of stolen goods related to the Swift investigation . He served about 26 months in prison and finished his supervised release in June 2019 , about a year before the arsons started . The sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 7 , where Pricop could face a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for each count . The ATF and the New Mexico State Fire Marshal ' s Office were the ones who investigated this case . The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U . S . Attorneys Cory L . Burleson , Sean D . Peterson , and Mitchell M . Suliman from the Riverside Branch Office .
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