2½-year term for Brooklyn Center man who torched his own place and falsely blamed activists on political left

A Brooklyn Center man was sentenced Thursday afternoon to 2½ years in prison for staging an arson at his Brooklyn Center home to make it appear as if had been targeted by activists on the political left, then collecting an insurance payout and thousands of dollars in donations.

The sentencing of Denis V. Molla, 30, in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis came after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with the fire that leveled his detached garage, charred two pickup trucks and a camper with a Trump flag and inflicted minor damage to the home shortly before 4 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2020.

The sentence from Judge David Doty includes one year under supervision for Molla upon his release.

Ahead of sentencing, defense attorney Ryan Garry wrote to the court that his client should be spared prison and put on probation.

"He was in a heated argument with people on the other end of the political spectrum, which ignited an illogical idea to commit this illicit act," Garry explained. "He wanted to make a statement that the political left — who he saw as attacking his own political beliefs — was not better than the political right."

Officers arrived at the house in the 6900 block of N. Morgan Avenue and saw what appeared to be fresh spray paint on the garage that read "Biden 2020," "BLM" and an "A" with a circle around it, according to police. The symbol often is a reference to anarchists.

Garry added that his client has already made roughly $83,000 in restitution to cover the $61,000 insurance fraud and his ill-gotten gains of $22,000 from two GoFundMe campaigns, and he "is bearing the full brunt of the loss in this case, that being $300,000 in damages from the fire he set."

The U.S. Attorney's Office countered in its filing that Molla should be given a sentence near the bottom of federal guidelines, which suggest anywhere from slightly less than 3½ to 4¼ years.

Pushing for incarceration, the prosecution highlighted how Molla perpetuated his deceit in during interviews with federal investigators and the news media.

Denis Molla and his wife, Deana, previously told the Star Tribune they were asleep with their 2-year-old son and 5-month old daughter when the fire erupted.

"I think things have gotten way out of control," Denis Molla, who was born in Ukraine and moved to the United States at age 4, said the day after the blaze. "I just feel very sorry for my parents, just because they wanted to leave the USSR for us to have a better future and life in America. … For them to see me express my beliefs as a Republican, it's crazy to think it came down to this."

Days before the fire, the government filing continued, "Molla was captured on surveillance video buying gas cans, spray paint and Duraflame logs at a Menards in Coon Rapids." He also redirected his home surveillance cameras away from where he started the fire.

Confronted with the evidence, Molla finally confessed to law enforcement nine months later. He said he doused a Trump flag on his camper with paint lacquer and set it on fire. Some of the lacquer dripped onto the driveway and one of his pickup trucks, leading to the flames quickly spreading.