Brothers Sentenced to Prison for Fraud and Arson

Brothers from Long Island were sentenced to prison after they attempted to fraud an insurance company following arson at a former Hudson Valley bar.

43-year-old Nicholas Motta and Dominic Motta, 59, both of Islandia, were sentenced in federal court to serve 15 months and 12 months and one day, respectively, for their role in a scheme to obtain insurance money by committing arson. The two pled guilty in November.

According to court documents, during a blizzard on February 10, 2010, a closed down bar in Swan Lake, formerly known as Kilcoin’s, was set on fire and destroyed.

32-year-old Anthony Perso, of Medford was among individuals who set the Sullivan County establishment on fire. The Motta brothers owned the bar and arranged for it to be set ablaze.

Dominic Motta deceived the insurance company about the fire in an attempt to obtain over $100,000 in insurance proceeds. The insurance company detected arson and ultimately denied the request after Motta repeatedly failed to respond to requests to answer questions about the fire under oath.

In addition to their prison terms, each were sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. Nicholas was ordered to pay a fine of $7,500 and Dominic was fined $5,000

Perso pled guilty in October. He’ll be sentenced on March 11th.