Three defendants were sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus for the Dec. 6, 2004 arson at the Hunters Brooke development in Indian Head, Charles County, U.S. District Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J.Rosenstein announced.

Patrick Walsh, 21, of Ft. Washington, was sentenced to 235 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release in connection with his conviction by a federal jury on Sept. 2, of conspiracy to commit arson and 35 counts of arson;

Aaron Speed, 22, of Waldorf, was sentenced to 100 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release in connection with his guilty plea on June 23, to conspiracy to commit arson; and Jeremy Parady, 21, of Accokeek, was sentenced to 87 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release in connection with his guilty plea on April 28, to conspiracy to commit arson.

Judge Titus also ordered that each defendant pay restitution of $3,274,538.42.

The remaining two defendants, Roy Thomas McCann, 23, and Michael McIntosh Everhart, 21, both of Waldorf, are scheduled for trial on February 21, 2006.

“The defendants tried to destroy a community. They endangered the lives of nearby residents and firefighters, and they caused millions of dollars of property damage. Thanks to the efforts of dedicated law enforcement professionals, justice will be done: the victims will rebuild their homes while the perpetrators spend many years in federal prison,” Rosenstein said.

According to the statements of facts presented to the court and trial testimony: Beginning in the fall of 2004, Speed, Parady and Walsh conspired with others to commit arson at 35 houses under construction in the Hunter’s Brooke development. To carry out the scheme, the conspirators obtained flammable materials and poured the materials into containers. Some of the materials were placed on the premises during the time Speed worked at Hunter’s Brooke as the security guard on the night of December 3, 2005. Other items were placed onsite on the night of the fire. To conceal the flammable materials, the conspirators used common containers such as drywall buckets, detergent bottles and other large plastic containers.

On Dec. 6, 2004, the conspirators poured other accelerants in the entrance ways and other areas of the houses located on those lots. Using flares, matches and propane torches, the conspirators then lit the flammable materials, causing a series of fires which resulted in the destruction of or damage to several houses in various stages of construction. None of the houses were occupied at the time of the fires.

Speed’s role during the arson was, among other things, to assist in stealing the ignitable liquids used to start the fire, provide transportation for those ignitable liquids to Hunter’s Brooke, advise other co-conspirators on how and when to gain access to the site and to contact the security guard on duty and encourage him to leave to allow unfettered access to Hunter’s Brooke. In addition, based on his knowledge gained as a security guard at Hunter’s Brooke, Speed provided a hand-drawn map of the subdivision and identified which house was occupied so that it would not be targeted during the arson. Speed supplied one of the propane torches used to start the fires, radios for communication and latex gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. He personally participated in lighting the fires.

Parady’s role during the arson was, among other things, to drive one of the vehicles used to move from house to house to light the fires. Parady also recruited or attempted to recruit others t