PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that Jason Gusoff, 44, of Richboro, Pennsylvania entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit arson. United States District Judge C. Darnell Jones II presided over the guilty plea hearing in Philadelphia via video teleconference.

The defendant purchased his business, California Tanning Salon, in November 2007. For the approximately nine months that the defendant owned and operated the business, it was never profitable. The business expenses exceeded the revenue generated, and Gusoff could not make the required lease payments. On July 21, 2008, Gusoff directed his co-conspirator to set fire to the business with the intent to destroy it. After the fire, Gusoff submitted requests for payment to the business’ insurance company while making materially false representations that he was not responsible for the loss caused by the fire. These lies resulted in the defendant receiving $105,486 from the insurance company.

A federal grand jury returned an Indictment against Gusoff in February 2011. Prior to his scheduled trial in September 2011, Gusoff fled the United States using his brother’s passport. In February 2019, due to the coordinated efforts of the United States Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Cambodian Police, the defendant was arrested in Cambodia and returned to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to answer for his crimes. The co-conspirator, who was severely burned while committing the arson and hospitalized as a result, pled guilty in 2011 and has since served his sentence.

“Gusoff has a brazen disrespect for the law – and for human life. He is lucky that no one died during this fire,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “He put people’s safety at risk, stole insurance money, and when faced with the consequences of his actions, fled the country. If you are charged in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with a federal offense, it does not matter if you flee to the other side of the world. We will find you and hold you accountable for your actions.”

“Acts of arson are dangerous crimes and threaten the community. ATF is committed to keeping the public safe from those who maliciously set these fires,” said Donald Robinson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Philadelphia Field Division. “We appreciate the assistance of our federal and international partners in getting the defendant back to the States to face these charges, and the dedication and tenacity of our personnel in the Arson and Explosives Task Force.”

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanine Linehan, the Deputy Chief of the Violent Crime Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Philadelphia Field Division
https://www.atf.gov/news/pr/former-fugi ... mmit-arson

Something like this really burns me up.

Not saying that I'm for arsonists, but I'm suprised that allegations of setting fire to your own property in the US is sufficient grounds to be arrested and deported from Cambodia to the US.
There may be more two-way US-Cambodian deportation traffic than is officially acknowledged.

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Sun May 24, 2020 9:28 pm Not saying that I'm for arsonists, but I'm suprised that allegations of setting fire to your own property in the US is sufficient grounds to be arrested and deported from Cambodia to the US.
There may be more two-way US-Cambodian deportation traffic than is officially acknowledged.

I think that setting fire to your own property is no doubt illegal but not a major crime, but falsely claiming over $100k from the insurance company would be, plus what would have got him caught in any country was entering on a false passport . I guess he assumed that Cambodia was a backward, lawless place where such things dont matter. Wrong!

Yeah wrong! Cambodia is a backward lawless place where such things do matter. His mistake was not bringing the $100,000 for payoffs.

Arson is wrong. But had he used a missile , a rocket from a drone or even dropped a nuclear bomb he would have got away with it. It's the telling of a lie to the insurance company that really got him in the shit.

Duncan wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 6:24 am Arson is wrong. But had he used a missile , a rocket from a drone or even dropped a nuclear bomb he would have got away with it. It's the telling of a lie to the insurance company that really got him in the shit.

No, he wouldnt have gotten away with it, that comment is totally ignorant.

Arson is only a Federal Crime under certain circumstances (ie Fed buildings, Interstate Commerce, Special and or Maritime Jurisiction). I dont know what statute this guy pled under, if someone wants to tell me thats great, but it looks like the underlying substantive offense would be Interstate Commerce Arson under 18 USC 844. While lying to the insurance company brought him down, he wasnt charged with that, probably because its a lesser penalty (20 years for arson, 10 for fraud).

Arson involves stuff that goes boom. Its a major big deal. The Feds dont like Arson. If there is a suspicious fire, the Feds are usually called out and if the Feds can take jurisdiction (here, it was a tanning salon, there is your jurisdiction), they will take it and give ya a stint in the Uncle Sams Hotel. And if you run, they dont like that either. Uncle Sam always gets his man so to speak.

The guy should deem himself lucky. Im sure this guilty plea entailed whispers about Super Max and the knowledge that he could be prosecuted in Pa for Arson qua Arson, then in Fed Court for Conspiracy and Fraud, and have a lovely bunch of sentences stack consecutively. Buh bye dude, have a nice vacation.

His biggest crime was opening a tanning salon in the first place.
As 9/10ths of the wold's population knows, there is a special place in hell for people with fake tans.

WildA wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 7:05 am

Duncan wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 6:24 am Arson is wrong. But had he used a missile , a rocket from a drone or even dropped a nuclear bomb he would have got away with it. It's the telling of a lie to the insurance company that really got him in the shit.

No, he wouldnt have gotten away with it, that comment is totally ignorant.

Arson is only a Federal Crime under certain circumstances (ie Fed buildings, Interstate Commerce, Special and or Maritime Jurisiction). I dont know what statute this guy pled under, if someone wants to tell me thats great, but it looks like the underlying substantive offense would be Interstate Commerce Arson under 18 USC 844. While lying to the insurance company brought him down, he wasnt charged with that, probably because its a lesser penalty (20 years for arson, 10 for fraud).

Arson involves stuff that goes boom. Its a major big deal. The Feds dont like Arson. If there is a suspicious fire, the Feds are usually called out and if the Feds can take jurisdiction (here, it was a tanning salon, there is your jurisdiction), they will take it and give ya a stint in the Uncle Sams Hotel. And if you run, they dont like that either. Uncle Sam always gets his man so to speak.

The guy should deem himself lucky. Im sure this guilty plea entailed whispers about Super Max and the knowledge that he could be prosecuted in Pa for Arson qua Arson, then in Fed Court for Conspiracy and Fraud, and have a lovely bunch of sentences stack consecutively. Buh bye dude, have a nice vacation.

Arson involves stuff that goes boom. Yea, I'd agree with that.