A federal judge on Tuesday imposed a 6½-year prison sentence on a Rochester man convicted of setting fire to a St. Paul school and two stores during the rioting that followed George Floyd's murder.
The sentence in Minneapolis by Judge David S. Doty came after Jose A. Felan Jr., 36, pleaded guilty to arson in connection with fires set May 28, 2020, three days after Floyd's death in Minneapolis.
Felan's sentence includes three years of supervised release after prison. He also was ordered to pay $39,000 in restitution to his victims.
Prosecutors argued in a pre-sentence filing for Felan to receive a sentence of 7¼ years in prison followed by three of supervised release, saying he "took advantage of the chaos that ensued to engage in conduct that was lawless, dangerous and destructive."
Defense attorney Robert Sicoli countered in his court filing that Felan be imprisoned for five years and receive three years' supervised release.
Since his arrest, Felan has been in jail for more than 17 months, "has not seen or talked to his wife and children that entire time, was hospitalized with COVID-19 and almost died as a result," Sicoli wrote.
"What Mr. Felan has already been through," the attorney continued, "and the additional time he will serve in prison when coupled with the supervised release term, is a significant deterrent to him committing another crime. An additional 27 months in prison, as requested by the government, will not further the goal of specific deterrence, but would only be punitive in nature."
Felan and his wife, Mena Dhaya Yousif, 23, were arrested by law enforcement in Mexico after the U.S. Marshals Service found them in February 2021. She also pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 3.