By Kathleen Brady Shea
The Philadelphia Inquirer
COATESVILLE, Pa. — A formerly homeless Coatesville man with a history of alienation and mental disabilities yesterday admitted setting five fires in his hometown.
Leroy R. McWilliams, 24, who pleaded guilty but mentally ill, was sentenced to 121/2 to 25 years of confinement, which will begin at Norristown State Hospital. He could be transferred later to a state prison if hospital officials decide he has completed his treatment.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Ost-Prisco said he was pleased by the outcome.
“There’s no question he needs psychological help,” Ost-Prisco said, adding that McWilliams was one of a handful of defendants who terrorized the Coatesville area and imperiled its firefighters.
“Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt in the fires he set,” said Ost-Prisco. Two residents and two firefighters sustained minor injuries.
From February 2008 through March 2009, nearly 70 arsons plagued the struggling city of 11,600 residents and neighboring municipalities; more than half remain unsolved.
After listening to testimony from and about McWilliams, including diagnoses of depression and personality disorders, Chester County Court Judge Phyllis R. Streitel said she would approve the agreement.
“I believe he is going to embrace the idea of improvement,” Streitel said.
Defense attorney Amparito Arriaga agreed. She said McWilliams, who was respectful and cooperative, needed and wanted to learn self-reliance.
With the exception of one terse letter from McWilliams’ mother, no one had reached out on her client’s behalf, Arriaga said.
McWilliams, who also was ordered to pay nearly $900,000 in restitution, read a statement in which he apologized to firefighters and victims, two of whom attended the hearing.
“I am very sorry for my actions,” he said.
McWilliams said that he understands the hate he engendered and that he hopes he can get the treatment he needs. He said he has been enrolled in many social-service programs since age 4, but most were too short to have a lasting impact.
“Let me show you I can change for the better,” McWilliams said.
McWilliams is the second defendant to enter a plea. In November, Robert F. Tracey Jr., 37, a former Coatesville assistant fire chief, received a sentence of time served — 242 days — to 23 months in prison followed by eight years’ probation for two arsons. Three other arson defendants are awaiting trial.
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