GOSHEN – A Monroe man pled guilty before Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown to arson in connection with a house fire that occurred in the early morning hours of May 5 in Juniper Drive in Monroe.
Nicholas Fontaine’s former girlfriend and her family were in the house at the time the fire erupted damaging the outside of the residence and destroying a car in the driveway.
On Thursday, October 28, a day after Fontaine, 23, pled guilty, a friend, Emanuel Watson, 24, of Monroe, admitted acting together with him in setting the fire.
Prosecutors argued that at about 1:40 a.m. on May 5, Fontaine and Watson had repeatedly poured gas over the ex-girlfriend’s 2018 Hyundai Elantra parked in the driveway next to the house.
Ring camera recordings showed the car being torched and the fire quickly spreading to the siding of the building, which became engulfed in flames.
Both men admitted that they had reason to believe the residence was occupied at the time the fire was started.
No one was injured in the incident.
According to plea agreements entered in court, Fontaine will be sentenced to nine years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision when sentenced in December. Watson will be sentenced to five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced, also in December.
“There are few scenarios as frightening as awakening to find that your residence is on fire,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “Arson places not only its intended victims at risk, but also those who occupy nearby residences, as well as the brave fire responders who regularly risk their lives to protect our lives and property.”
