GOSHEN – Montgomery resident Ryan Veloce, 32, was sentenced in Orange County Court on Tuesday to 25 years to life in state prison on his conviction following a jury trial of murder and arson for torching a house in which he was staying on Barron Road.
The victim, Kevin Horan, 46, had saved Veloce the night before by administering Narcan to reverse the effects of a drug overdose.
The judge who sentenced Veloce noted that if not for the heroic actions of Horan alerting other occupants of the house to the fire, more people would have died.
The conviction stems from a fire that destroyed a single-family house in the Town of Montgomery on the morning of June 10, 2021.
Horan was rescued by firefighters after becoming trapped inside. He died later at the hospital from smoke inhalation.
Veloce, an overnight guest, intentionally set the fire with kerosene because he believed Horan, who was asleep at the time, had stolen Veloce’s cocaine the night before the fire.
“The heinous and cowardly actions of this defendant, which cost a man his life, were rightfully met with the maximum sentence allowed by law,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. Veloce set the fire under the dover of night, without eyewitnesses, “but for the dedicated and skilled investigation by the law enforcement agencies, coupled with the hard and steadfast work of the prosecutors who handled the case, this defendant would not have been held responsible for his crimes.”
