A West Virginia man has pleaded guilty to his role in a scheme to commit insurance fraud by burning down his house.
James Keith Browning, 54, pleaded guilty to a charge of arson to commit wire fraud.
“Insurance fraud and arson are serious crimes,” said US Attorney Mike Stuart. “Arson risks property and lives and insurance fraud defrauds all of us. We will prosecute those crimes every chance we get.”
According to the US Attorney’s office, in the spring of 2013, Browning, together with Dudley Bledsoe and James “Punkin” Lester, entered into a plot to purchase a house, put it in Browning’s name, insure it and then burn it to collect the proceeds. Sometime in August of 2013, the three men manufactured an alibi they could use for when the house was burned. The house burned on August 16, 2013, while Browning and Lester were at the West Virginia State Fair.
Browning then filed a fraudulent claim for the loss of the house and items that were purportedly in it at the time of the fire. He ultimately received $100,000 from the insurance company, which he divided with Bledsoe and Lester.
Bledsoe pleaded guilty to his role in the plot last month, along with another co-conspirator, Ricky Gleason. Lester, along with two more co-conspirators, is set to go to trial in May. Browning faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment for his role in the plot.
