NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 28-year-old man was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted arson and burglary in two incidents in 2020 and 2021, as well as carrying illegal handgun, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Wednesday.
According to the charges, on Jan. 28, 2020, around 4:50 p.m., Troy Phillip was inside the Hillside Hotel on Queens Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens.
On video surveillance inside the stairwell, Phillip is observed walking onto the second floor of the hotel and then throwing an object that was on fire onto the hallway floor. The FDNY recovered multiple empty bottles of rubbing alcohol and a match during their investigation.
On July 24, 2021, Phillip was seen on surveillance video at an apartment building in Lefrak City where the mother of his daughter and the child live.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m., his estranged girlfriend opened the door to her apartment and found the entrance engulfed in flames. Her daughter and mother were in the apartment at the time. No one was injured during the incident.
According to court records, on Aug. 17, 2021, Phillip was arrested on a court-issued warrant and discovered a Taurus .22mm pistol along with 16 rounds of ammunition in a black satchel the defendant was carrying.
Phillip, of South Ozone Park, pled guilty last month to second-degree attempted arson, second-degree attempted criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree burglary before Queens Supreme Court Justice Karen Gopee.
In addition to his prison sentence, the defendant is facing a five-year period of post-release supervision.
Katz said in a statement that Phillip's sentence holds him "accountable."
"Today’s sentence holds this defendant accountable for unlawfully entering a hotel and an apartment building on separate occasions and setting fires, and for carrying an illegal weapon. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured as a result of his actions," she said.
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