Attorney Caught Playing With Fire

According to Arkansas Business, a federal court jury returned a verdict that 34-year-old real estate developer and attorney, Aaron Jones, was guilty of burning his former home in West Little Rock in May of 2008 in order to collect insurance money.

“Jones, an attorney, title company owner and real estate developer, was found guilty of three counts of mail fraud and one count of using fire in the commission of a felony. The jury took less than five hours to reach a verdict.”

Apparently, Jones’s original explanation of the night his house went ablaze was that he was bound and duct taped by intruders who then set his house on fire.  Unfortunately for Jones, he was unable to name anyone seeking to cause harm to him or his family and once the allegations of money troubles soon surfaced, prosecutors found a motive for why Jones would set fire to his own home while he was still inside.

The trial took an interesting twist when urine-soaked pants from the scene became the focus of the closing arguments. The defense questioned why Jones would lose bladder control if he set fire to his own house, indicating that the defendant was clearly in an extreme amount of fear.  Prosecutors countered the explanation stating that Jones’s loss of bladder control was due to his fear of getting caught.

“‘I’m going to get caught,’ said Daniel Stripling, Assistant U.S. Attorney. ‘That would be a good reason to pee in your pants, I would submit.’”

Jones was not immediately taken into custody, but a hearing for sentencing was scheduled for Monday at 10am.  The arson charges were dropped before the trial began; however, mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.