Viorel Pricop, Arson of a Vehicle or Property in Interstate Commerce, Arizona 2024

A Detroit-area man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for maliciously setting fires to three semi-truck trailers belonging to Swift Transportation, a Phoenix-based commercial trucking company.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Viorel Pricop, 67, of Allen Park, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker to 120 months in federal prison for maliciously setting fires to three semi-truck trailers.

At the conclusion of an 8-day trial, a jury found Pricop guilty of three counts of Arson of a Vehicle or Property in Interstate Commerce on Aug. 21, 2024.

‘This defendant left a nation-wide path of destruction that threatened lives, property, and critical infrastructure,’ said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine.

Pricop set fire to three semi-truck trailers belonging to Swift Transportation, a Phoenix-based commercial trucking company, as part of a larger pattern of arsons targeting Swift.

Pricop set at least 16 additional Swift Transportation semi-trailers on fire in multiple states between October 2021 and September 2022.

The Albuquerque Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Phoenix Field Division, led the investigation in this case, with significant assistance from the ATF Fire Research and Forensic Laboratories, ATF Certified Fire Investigators, and Special Agents from the ATF National Cellular Analytics Program.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

Pricop was convicted in 2018 in the Eastern District of Michigan for a tax offense and transportation of stolen goods, charges stemming from an investigation conducted by Swift.

His term of supervised release ended in June 2019, approximately two years before the arsons in this case began.

For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/.

Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/detroit-area-man-sentenced-10-years-federal-prison-maliciously-setting-fires-commercial