Palm Desert man sentenced to 13 years for firebombing local Republican group’s HQ
A Palm Desert man previously sentenced in federal court to five years behind bars for firebombing the La Quinta office of a Republican organization was sentenced today in state court to 13 years for the same crime.
Carlos Espriu, 24, pleaded guilty in October in Riverside County Superior Court to one count of arson of a non-dwelling and possessing destructive or explosive devices, along with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a device designed to accelerate the fire.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Burke Strunsky on Wednesday sentenced Espriu to 13 years behind bars on the charges, a sentence that will be served concurrently with his five-year federal sentence.
According to Riverside County District Attorney's Office Public Information Officer John Hall, this sentence can be served in any state or federal penal institution.
In federal court in March, Espriu pleaded guilty to a single federal count of attempted arson of a building, admitting he used a Molotov cocktail in an attempt to destroy the East Valley Republican Women Federated office in La Quinta in May 2020.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson sentenced him to five years in prison and ordered him to pay $5,426 in restitution for damage caused by the firebombing.
During the early morning hours of May 31, 2020, Espriu broke the front windows of the EVRWF headquarters and tossed a lighted Molotov cocktail made of three bottles he had taped together, according to federal prosecutors.
Nobody was injured in the blaze. Arriving firefighters quickly extinguished the fire before it could cause extensive damage, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
According to the DOJ, several people came forward with information that allowed law enforcement officials to identify Espriu.
EVRWF President Joy Miedecke said surveillance footage showed a man setting the fire after breaking the windows with a baseball bat. Tips generated from the organization's reward offer apparently helped authorities identify
Espriu.
Federal prosecutors said investigators discovered social media accounts believed to belong to Espriu, including a Twitter account that, three days before the EVRWF firebombing, tweeted: "I wanna go burn sh** n get hit with tear gas.”
Officials also saw Espriu repeatedly using a vehicle closely resembling one seen on the surveillance video.
Espriu was arrested by the Gang Impact Team in Indio on September 9, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.
"Investigators determined that Espriu was attending a party in Indio on Sept. 9 and stopped a vehicle he was driving when he left the party," a district attorney news release said.
The criminal complaint also revealed that investigators served a search warrant at Espriu’s residence in July that led to the recovery of a green lighter which is very similar to the one used to light the Molotov cocktails.
Officials also recovered audio recordings from a dashboard camera in which they say Espriu is heard telling a woman in late June that he shaved his facial hair after seeing some of the surveillance video broadcast on local news. He also described his planning, his attempts to recruit others to help him, and the steps he took to start the fire.
In the audio recordings, Espriu says he manufactured the Molotov cocktails by filling three bottles with gasoline and inserting a towel into one bottle. He reportedly then recounts the details of the firebombing as seen on the surveillance video, according to the complaint.
The FBI’s Inland Empire Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated this matter.
