The youngest brother of late NFL star and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to setting fire to a Northern California post office last summer.
Richard Tillman, a 44-year-old San Jose resident, was arrested July 20 in connection with a fire at the Almaden Valley post office and charged with malicious destruction of government property.
“In pleading guilty, Tillman admitted that he intentionally set the fire in order to ‘make a point to the United States government,’” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement.
It remains unclear what point Tillman was trying to make.
Tillman was accused of backing his vehicle through the front door of the post office during the early morning on July 20 and setting the vehicle ablaze after exiting it. Tillman had loaded the vehicle with fire logs and doused it with lighter fluid, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The fire quickly spread to the post office, completely destroying the lobby. No one was injured.
U.S. Postal Inspector Shannon Roark said in July that Tillman told officers at the scene that he had livestreamed the incident on YouTube.
Tillman is in federal custody and is scheduled to be sentenced at an April 27 hearing. He faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years, as well as a $250,000 fine.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Pat Tillman walked away from a three-year, $3.6-million contract offer from the Arizona Cardinals and enlisted in the Army, along with his younger brother, Kevin.
On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in the province of Khost, Afghanistan. He was 27.
Following the post office fire last year, Kevin Tillman released a statement.
“Our family is aware that my brother Richard has been arrested. First and foremost, we are relieved that no one was physically harmed,” Kevin Tillman said. “ … To be clear, it’s no secret that Richard has been battling severe mental health issues for many years. He has been livestreaming, what I’ll call, his altered self on social media for anyone to witness.
“Unfortunately, securing the proper care and support for him has proven incredibly difficult — or rather, impossible. As a result, none of this is as shocking as it should be.”
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