U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced that Jermaine Fields, 38, from Rochester, NY, has been sentenced to five years in prison for arson. U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa delivered the sentence following Fields’ guilty plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Moynihan explained that on April 17, 2024, the Rochester Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the Abundance Co-Op Market on South Avenue in Rochester. Firefighters found burned debris and burn patterns in the men’s bathroom but no visible flames. Security footage identified Fields as entering and exiting the bathroom before the alarm sounded. He was arrested days later and charged with arson.
Fields also admitted to setting papers on fire in a stairwell at the Hall of Justice on Exchange Boulevard in Rochester earlier that month.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: the Rochester Fire Department led by Chief Stefano Napolitano, the Rochester Police Department under Chief David Smith, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives led by Special Agent-in-Charge Bryan Miller of the New York Field Division.
