Hereford House Owner, Two Others Sentenced for Causing Fire That Destroyed Landmark Restaurant

KANSAS CITY, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an owner of the Hereford House restaurant and two men he hired were sentenced in federal court today for their roles in an arson conspiracy that destroyed the landmark downtown Kansas City restaurant on October 20, 2008.

“These defendants torched a landmark restaurant in order to cheat the insurance company out of millions of dollars,” Dickinson said. “They deliberately created a violent explosion and an inferno that endangered the lives of many others. Their greed and deceit easily could have been lethal, not only for innocent neighbors and passersby, but for firefighters and other first responders. I’m satisfied that today’s sentences reflect the significance of their crimes and justly hold them accountable for their actions.”

Rodney J. Anderson, 60; Vincent Pisciotta, 59; and Mark A. Sorrentino, 47, all of Kansas City, were sentenced in separate hearings before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays. Anderson was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Pisciotta was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Sorrentino was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court is taking under advisement the recommendation for the defendants to pay $1,440,219 in restitution, for which they would be jointly and severally liable.

“After four years of tireless work by ATF and our partners, we are proud that these three men have been brought to justice,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Marino F. Vidoli. “An iconic Kansas City landmark was destroyed as a result of greed; thankfully, no one was injured or killed as a result of this violent crime.”

Anderson, Pisciotta. and Sorrentino were each convicted at trial of one count of conspiracy, one count of arson, and one count of using fire to commit a federal felony. Anderson was also found guilty of one count of mail fraud. They have been in federal custody since the conclusion of the trial on October 31, 2012.

Anderson is a co-owner of B & C Restaurant Corporation, a holding company that owned the Hereford House restaurant business. Anderson is also a co-owner of Hereford K.C. Realty LLC, which owned the building at 2 E. 20th Street, Kansas City, Missouri, in which the Hereford House was located, and a co-owner of Skivers Corporation, a restaurant management company that managed the Hereford House and other area restaurants.

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that in 2007 and 2008, the Hereford House restaurant at the downtown location was struggling financially. The struggles stemmed from the need to upgrade or remodel the aging restaurant and from the increased competition from new restaurants at the Power and Light District. Anderson sought offers to buy the property, remodel the property, and lease the property back to his restaurant operating group. In August 2008, the last offer Anderson received was too costly to make the transaction profitable. In 2008, Anderson personally infused hundreds of thousands of dollars into the restaurant and was on the verge of personal bankruptcy. The sources of Anderson’s cash infusion included high-rate business “payday” loans and money from his 401(k), his mother’s IRA, and from his children’s trust accounts.

Anderson hired Pisciotta to set fire to the restaurant in order to collect the insurance proceeds that would pay for the remodeling that was needed for the restaurant to regain its prominence. Anderson met with Pisciotta at the Hereford House on September 27, 2008. Anderson showed him around for about 50 minutes and gave him a key and a security alarm code so that Pisciotta and Sorrentino could gain entry into the Hereford House and deactivate the security alarm system.

On October 12, 2008, Pisciotta and Sorrentino (accompanied by an unidentified co-conspirator) used the key and alarm code Anderson had provided to enter the Hereford House and conduct a walk-through in preparation for setting fire to the building.

On October 19, 2008, Pisciotta used the key and security code to enter the Hereford House shortly before midnight. A short time later, Sorrentino arrived with the unidentified co-conspirator in a white van and the three men unloaded 14 plastic containers. Those five-gallon containers were filled with gasoline and were placed throughout the bar area of the restaurant. They were punctured in a manner to allow the gasoline to leak out in the area, along with a large volume of gasoline fumes. They used a delayed ignition device that allowed the gasoline fumes to ignite in a manner that created an explosion. They also shut off the water supply to the fire suppression system and deactivated any alarm or warning mechanism for firefighters and other authorities.

At approximately 12:44 a.m. on October 20, 2008, a 911 call dispatched the Kansas City Fire Department to the restaurant after an explosion at the location. The fire department arrived quickly and was able to extinguish the fire, although the restaurant was destroyed.

Anderson was out of town at the time of the arson, and the company’s CFO provided the ATF with the digital video surveillance from the restaurant’s surveillance cameras. Anderson’s meeting with Pisciotta on September 27, 2008, was captured on the video surveillance, along with the October 12, 2008 walk-through by Pisciotta and Sorrentino. Additionally, on October 19-20, 2008 Pisciotta and Sorrentino can be seen on the video surveillance unloading the plastic containers of gasoline and placing them in the bar area of the restaurant before setting an ignition device.

About a month after the fire, Anderson requested an advance payment of $300,000 from Travelers Property Casualty Company of America, which provided insurance coverage for the building and contents of the Hereford House. The check, which was sent by Travelers via overnight delivery, provides the basis for the mail fraud charge in count three of the indictment. Anderson also claimed a loss of $962,593 on the Hereford House building and a loss of $1,459,505 on behalf of B & C Restaurant Corporation, for a total claimed loss of $2,422,098.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jess E. Michaelsen and Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department; the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department; and the FBI.

This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available online at http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/index.html.