Press Release
☷Little Rock Man Sentenced to Maximum 20 Years in Prison for Arson
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ( By Press Release office)
Feb 01,2024
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A guy from Little Rock got sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for setting a fire . The judge gave Trent Tyrone Smith , who ' s 50 years old , the maximum sentence allowed under the law because of his crimes in this case and his violent past . Smith also has to be under supervision for three years after he gets out of prison . "We asked for the harshest punishment because we want the victim and the public to be safe from this guy for as long as possible , " said Jonathan D . Ross , the U . S . Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas . "We ' re glad the court agreed with us and sentenced him to 20 years in prison . Our top priority is protecting victims and the public from violent criminals , so we ' ll keep seeking the longest sentences possible for those who use violence to ruin lives and destroy safety . " On March 3 , 2022 , the Little Rock Fire Department got multiple calls about two different locations of The Grind Coffee Bistro: one on Pleasant Ridge Town Center and the other on Cantrell Road and East 21st Street , both in Little Rock . At Pleasant Ridge Town Center , the fire department got an alarm about water flow , which means the sprinkler system was on . But they couldn ' t find the source . Shortly after that , someone reported a fire at East 21st and Commerce Streets . When the fire department got there , they found the front door locked but saw the coffee shop on fire with smoke in the windows . Later that night , the fire department got another call about The Grind Coffee Bistro at Pleasant Ridge Town Center . When they arrived , they saw smoke coming from the business . Firefighters were able to get in through the unlocked front door and found two fires in the kitchen and one in the storage room . While they were putting out the fire , they found a gas can overturned in the bathroom that looked like the two 2 - gallon Scepter - brand gas cans Smith bought from Walmart ' s East McCain Boulevard store . An investigation showed that Smith and the owner of The Grind Coffee Bistro had recently broken up . On Feb . 26 , 2022 , Smith physically attacked the owner . The next day , she changed the locks and Smith took his stuff out of the place . On the same day as the fires , Smith tried to reach out to the victim multiple times in the afternoon . Later that day , the victim ' s son called his mom to let her know that their place had been shot at , but it turned out that someone had used an unknown object to hit the window . The victim went back home at that point . The investigation revealed that spare keys to the business were missing . It was also discovered that Smith , who is on parole , drove a gold Buick Lacrosse that belongs to his mom . When reviewing footage from the business ' s Cantrell location , Smith was seen there from 9:21 p . m . to 9:43 p . m . Shortly after , at around one minute later , the fire department received an alarm activation for water flow . They were dispatched to a fire at the East 21st Street location about 19 minutes after Smith left the Cantrell location . During the sentencing , the victim shared with the court the hard work she put into building her businesses as a single mother and described the violence she endured from Smith . She hoped that by coming forward , she could protect others from him . Smith has a long and violent criminal record . In 2016 , he was convicted in Saline County for attacking a victim , threatening to kill her , and driving a car into her house in an attempt to harm her . He also fled to Kentucky and evaded law enforcement at speeds of 110 miles per hour , almost hitting multiple officers with his vehicle . This led to his conviction for first - degree wanton endangerment . Smith also had previous convictions for assaulting officers , domestic violence , and illegally possessing a firearm . Smith was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 5 , 2022 , on two charges of using fire/explosives to damage or destroy property with injury to people . He pleaded guilty to one count on July 25 , 2023 , and the other count was dropped . The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives .
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