Arson Indictment Returned Regarding American Family Planning Clinic

PENSACOLA, FL—Bobby Joe Rogers, 41, of Pensacola, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the fire that destroyed the American Family Planning Clinic on January 1, 2012, in Pensacola, Florida. The two-count indictment charges Rogers with arson and damaging a reproductive health facility. The indictment was announced today by Pamela C. Marsh, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Rogers remains in federal custody following his arrest on January 5, 2012. If convicted at trial, the defendant faces a sentence of five to 20 years in prison for the arson count and up to one year in prison for damaging a reproductive health clinic.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The indictment of Rogers is a result of the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Pensacola Police Department, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edwin Knight and Chiraag Bains, Trial Attorney with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.