Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Jonathan Ernesto Godoy, 25, of Frederick, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to charges relating to a November 2012 arson at the Loudoun County Department of Community Corrections building.

According to court documents and court proceedings, in the fall of 2012, Godoy was on supervised probation in Loudoun County stemming from possession of narcotics charges.  In danger of violating his conditions of probation due to missed appointments, adulterated urine samples, and positive drug tests, Godoy, along with a co-conspirator, made two destructive devices using glass bottles, gasoline, and scraps of cotton t-shirt, commonly known as “Molotov cocktails,” and attempted to throw the devices into Godoy’s probation officer’s window.

According to court documents, at least one of the devices exploded inside of the Loudoun County Department of Corrections building and caused severe fire damage.  The fire, which occurred during the early morning hours of Nov. 14, 2012, caused such destruction that the occupants of the Corrections building had to move to an alternate location.  The fire caused over $300,000 in property damage and relocation costs.

In July 2014, Godoy was served with four felony state warrants related to the fire at the probation office, and he was incarcerated at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.  While there, in a series of telephone calls and letters, Godoy expressed his belief that if his friend and a Loudoun County Assistant Fire Marshal, who was involved in the investigation, were eliminated as witnesses, then the criminal case against him would collapse.  Thereafter, Godoy solicited a fellow inmate to murder the two.  Unbeknownst to Godoy, however, the fellow inmate was cooperating with law enforcement and kept them informed of Godoy’s plot.

Godoy was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 8, 2015, and he pleaded guilty to one count of conducting an arson affecting interstate commerce and one count of using a fire or explosive device in the commission of a felony.  Godoy faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 19, 2016.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Linda Hale, Chief Fire Marshal, Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management; and Charles E. Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael E. Rich and William M. Sloan are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-234.

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