Broken Arrow Man Sentenced To 60 Months For Arson

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Matthew Evan Smith, age 37, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment and 3 years supervised release for Arson, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 844(i) and 2. The charges arose from an investigation by the Tahlequah Police and Fire Departments, the Broken Arrow Police Department, the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal, the Cherokee County Sherriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”).

The Indictment alleged that on or about April 26, 2017, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, maliciously damaged, and attempted to damage and destroy, by means of fire, the Sherwin-Williams Paint Store located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which was used in an activity affecting interstate commerce.

During the early morning hours of April 26, 2017 the Tahlequah Fire Department responded to a fire at Sherwin Williams. When firefighters arrived the building and its contents had already suffered extensive fire damage. Firefighters discovered the electric meter had been removed from the building prior to their arrival, a safety measure generally taken by firefighters immediately upon arrival on a fire scene. The investigation that ensued showed there were multiple origins for the fire and the fire was determined to be arson. An inventory of the contents of Sherwin Williams revealed that several items, including ladders and paint sprayers, had been stolen from the store sometime just before the fire was started. Several of these items were pawned by Matthew Evan Smith within days after the fire. 

United States Attorney Brian J. Kuester said, “Arson investigations are difficult and time-consuming. It takes determination, diligence and sometimes patience to solve and successfully prosecute people who commit arson. Those virtues were evident in the law enforcement professionals that brought this investigation to its just conclusion with the defendant being sentenced to the Bureau of Prisons.”

“Utilizing arson to mask another crime is an act of violence,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II. “The augmented financial loss and potential of harm to the public and emergency responders is particularly troubling in this case given Mr. Smith is a former firefighter.”

The Honorable Ronald A. White, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Dean Burris represented the United States. The defendant will remain in custody pending transportation to the designated federal facility at which the non-paroleable sentence will be served.