Pair Hired to Torch Galilee Café for Insurance Money
Three men, all of Portland, Oregon, were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Tacoma in connection with the December 5, 2006, fire of the Galilee Café in Vancouver, Washington. The fire in a strip mall destroyed the café and damaged adjoining businesses. IBRAHIM JOZIN, 32, the brother of the cafe’s owner, was sentenced today to 5 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and $78,177 in restitution for Conspiracy to Commit Arson. JOZIN solicited two men to torch the restaurant because he wanted his brother, who was about to be deported to Israel, to be able to collect the insurance proceeds. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton commented that JOZIN had caused a lot of destruction without a thought of the harm to others.
The two men who actually started the fire were sentenced earlier this week. JOSHUA C. McCLELLAND, 37, and his step-son ANDREW M. MORROW, 22, both will share in the restitution order of $78,177. McCLELLAND was sentenced to 23 months in prison and three years of supervised release. MORROW, who served as the lookout while the fire was started, was sentenced today to 60 days in prison and four months of electronic home confinement and three years of supervised release. According to records in the case, McCLELLAND recruited MORROW to the plot, taking him along to shop for supplies, and then waking him around 2:00 AM to serve as a lookout while McCLELLAND set the fire using flares and gasoline.
JOZIN pleaded guilty November 20, 2008, admitting that he has hired
McCLELLAND to set the fire. McCLELLAND and MORROW pleaded guilty in October 2007.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the Vancouver Fire Department, and the Vancouver Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Tate London.
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