PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two men charged with starting a fire at a Fairhill pizza shop that killed a city firefighter in 2022 will spend decades behind bars following their conviction in federal court.
The collapse of the building at 300 West Indiana Avenue on June 18, 2022 did more than destroy the structure, it took the life of Philadelphia Fire Lt. Sean Williamson, injured five other first responders and forever changed several families.
Al Ashraf Khalil, the owner of Star Pizza Fish and Chicken, was sentenced on Wednesday to 40 years in federal prison for his role in the fatal fire, while delivery driver Isaam Jaghama was sentenced to 25 years.
In addition, the two men have each been ordered to pay the city and one of the apartment residents a total of more than $1.2 million in restitution.
The pair were found guilty of causing the fire by a federal jury last November. Khalil owned the building and was looking to collect on a $400,000 insurance claim. He later fled the United States to the Middle East, where he was detained. He was then returned to the U.S.
Williamson’s son Patrick, a teacher, tearfully addressed Judge Cynthia Rufe, calling his father the real teacher, someone who gave life lessons to everyone he met and who is now gone.and sister. His younger sister Erin, also a teacher, said her brother put her through college and basically raised her after their father died.
Before the sentence was announced, Khalil’s wife and sister begged Rufe for mercy and expressed their heartbreak for Williamson’s family. In his own address to the judge, Khalil said he was selfish and his actions had cost the city a real hero.