Two Convicted in Philadelphia Arson That Killed Firefighter

Two men were convicted Thursday in a 2022 fire that left Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department Lieutenant Sean Williamson dead.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, announced in a release that Al-Ashraf Khalil, 31, and Isaam Jaghama, 31, were convicted at trial in the June 18, 2022, arson fire at a Fairhill pizza shop. Five other firefighters were injured in the collapse at the building.

A federal jury convicted the defendants on one count each of conspiracy to commit malicious damage by means of fire of a building used in interstate commerce, and one count each of malicious damage by means of fire of a building used in interstate commerce. Khalil was also found guilty of one count of wire fraud, and one count of using fire in furtherance of the commission of that wire fraud.

Khalil was the owner of the property at 300 West Indiana Avenue, which housed both apartments and the pizza shop. As proven at trial, in the early hours of June 18, 2022, he and Jaghama set a fire inside the building so that Khalil could profit by filing an insurance claim related to the fire. The day of the fire, Khalil signed paperwork authorizing an insurance adjuster to file a more than $400,000 insurance claim on his behalf.

At sentencing, Khalil faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 17 years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison. Jaghama faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.

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