LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for starting fires and scuffling with firefighters in March 2018 at an unfinished 63-story hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said Monday.
Andrew Joseph Sanders, 28, also was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Miranda Du to three years of supervised release and faces having to pay restitution after pleading guilty last October to arson, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said.
Sanders was taken into custody in court on Friday. His defense attorney, Michael Becker, declined comment Monday.
Investigators found that Sanders recorded himself on his cell phone trespassing at the Drew Las Vegas and saying he started the fires because he was bored, Trutanich said.
Firefighters reported they were delayed fighting the fires while subduing Sanders after they arrived.
Authorities estimated damage from separate fires on the 11th floor of a parking structure and a ballroom space at up to $10 million.
The 4,000-room Drew is several blocks from where a blaze in November 1980 killed 87 people and injured more than 700 at the MGM Grand Hotel. That property is now Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.
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