RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A man who was found guilty of setting fires to commercial tractor-trailers has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, in addition to a hefty fine.
Viorel Pricop, 66, of Allen Park, Michigan, was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison for maliciously setting fires to six tractor-trailers belonging to Phoenix-based Swift Transportation during a 10-month span by U.S. District Judge Sunshine S. Sykes, who also ordered him to pay $648,384 in restitution.
According to a June 7 statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Central District of California, at the conclusion of a 16-day trial, a jury on March 12 found Pricop guilty of six counts of arson of vehicle or property in interstate commerce. He has been in federal custody since October 2022.
“This defendant was given a second chance but chose to throw it away and go on a national campaign of revenge,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “By setting fire to trailer after trailer with the drivers inside the trucks, he recklessly put people’s lives at risk. Violent recidivist criminals such as this defendant will only be deterred with consequences and the sentence imposed today does just that.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office says Pricop set fire to the six Swift tractor-trailers from December 2021 to September 2022. Four of the arsons occurred in San Bernardino County (Newberry Springs, Ludlow, Barstow, and Hesperia) and two occurred in Riverside County (Coachella).
In each of the incidents, the Swift-owned trailer was parked at or near a truck stop when a fire occurred on the trailer portion of the vehicle, mainly on or near the trailer tires.
According to an affidavit previously filed in the case, Pricop set fire to at least 18 additional Swift Transportation tractor-trailers in other states from June 2020 to March 2022. These incidents occurred at locations spanning from Barstow, California, to McCalla, Alabama; most were along Interstate 10 and Interstate 40. Federal criminal charges associated with some of these fires were filed against Pricop in the District of New Mexico and the District of Arizona.
Swift hired a fire investigation consultant to assist with fire scene examinations. A pattern began to develop when multiple reports noted substantially similar methods of lighting the trailers on fire, including where on the vehicles the fires began, and the fact the fires occurred during the middle of the night.
A review of cell tower data near some of the fires showed that a specific device — later found to be a navigation device installed in a commercial tractor-trailer — connected to cell towers near many of the fires at or around the times of the fires. Law enforcement determined that this device was installed on a vehicle operated by Pricop. Law enforcement also identified the cellphone subscribed to Pricop and, after obtaining court authorization, obtained historical cellular data and real-time location information for Pricop’s cellphone. Analysis of this data showed that Pricop’s cellphone was present in the general area of all California fires, as well as the 18 additional fires across the country.
In September 2022, search warrants were executed on Pricop’s tractor-trailer, personal vehicle and residence, yielding additional evidence corroborating his involvement in this series of arsons. This evidence included a gas torch, torch-style lighters, and record keeping documents containing location information, such as cargo pickup and delivery dates which coincided with the time and location of several fires in the series of 24 fires across the country.
Previously, between 2010 and 2014, Swift, along with other other trucking companies, were victims of cargo thefts. Swift initiated its own investigation into those thefts, using “bait” trailers to catch thieves. In 2015, boxes of electronic goods containing tracking devices were stolen from one of the bait trailers. Swift investigators tracked those boxes to a storage facility in Michigan, and local law enforcement in Michigan arrested Pricop, who was in possession of the boxes of electronic goods taken from the bait trailer.
Pricop was convicted in 2018 in the Eastern District of Michigan for a tax offense and for transportation of stolen goods, charges stemming from the investigation conducted by Swift. Pricop was sentenced to time served in that case, amounting to approximately 26 months’ imprisonment. His term of supervised release ended in June 2019 — about one year before the arsons in this case began.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
