Arsonist gets time to cool off, 16 years in prison
SALEM – A Vineland man who organized the torching of his lawyer’s office and then the headquarters of the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office will have up to 16 years in a state prison to cool off.
The arsons took place in Vineland on the night of Jan. 28, 2014, at Helmer, Conley & Kasselman on West Landis Avenue, and then the morning of Jan. 29, 2014 at Prosecutor Jennifer Webb McRae’s Fayette Street office in Bridgeton.
Felix R. Lopez appeared Thursday for sentencing by Salem County Superior Court Judge Benjamin C. Telsey, who also sentenced Lopez on two other unrelated criminal cases. His two arson co-defendants either have been sentenced already or have entered a plea.
Lopez, now 30, received a 16-year prison term for the two arsons. He must serve 85 percent of the term before being eligible for early release, a provision that keeps him behind bars for at least 13 and a half years minus jail time served.
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At an earlier hearing, Lopez had entered guilty pleas to a first-degree charge of employing a juvenile in commission of a second-degree crime and second-degree aggravated arson.
Telsey also sentenced the Vineland man to a 5-year prison term on unlawful possession of a handgun, to 18 months for shoplifting and to 18 months for violation of probation. The probation violation was related to the arsons. All the prison sentences will run at the same time.
The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office investigated and prosecuted Lopez and his co-defendants instead of Cumberland County, since the county legally was a victim, at the request of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
Lopez, a West Grape Street resident and a Latin Kings gang member, was arrested on March 7, 2014 in the arson cases. Also arrested were Guillermo A. Veloz, 18 at the time, of East Landis Avenue in Vineland; and Zilia Perez, 36 at the time, who lived at the same address as Lopez.
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Telsey on Oct. 9 sentenced Veloz to five years in prison. He pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated arson.
Veloz also must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. Like Lopez, he has been in jail since his arrest.
Perez, too, had entered a guilty plea on Sept. 8 to a charge of third-degree conspiracy to commit arson. She allegedly drove her co-defendants to the law office and prosecutor’s office.
However, Perez is asking a judge to allow her to withdraw her plea. Telsey will hear that motion on Dec. 8. The state is opposing the request.
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Lopez admitted forcing a juvenile to buy the gasoline used in the incidents. The juvenile was not prosecuted because investigators did not believe he was aware of the intended arsons.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies also took part in the investigation. They included Vineland and Bridgeton police, New Jersey State Police, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Vineland and Bridgeton firefighters, and the Gloucester County Fire Marshal’s Office.
Joseph P. Smith; (856) 563-5252; jsmith@gannettnj.com