By Kathianne Boniello
The five men and one woman charged with attempted arson for setting fire to a Douglaston home in 1998 with a homemade explosive pleaded guilty to the crime last week in Queens Criminal Court, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
The six were arrested and charged with trying to set fire to the 71st Avenue home in May after the city Fire Department got a tip from an informant about the three-year-old case.
On July 18 all six pleaded guilty to the crime before Judge Dorothy Chin Brandt, a spokeswoman for the Queens DA said Monday.
Audrey Maroti, 20, Demetrios Cherpelis, 20, both of Little Neck, and Douglaston residents Constantin Kalloudis, 19, and Leonard Stein, 20, were slated to be sentenced Aug. 29. Angel Dancuart of Bayside, whose age was not released, was scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 14 and Paul Nardozi, 24, of Little Neck was expected to face sentencing on Sept. 6, the spokeswoman said.
The fire was set on May 30, 1998, and Maroti was accused of providing the getaway car, according to the complaint filed in Queens Criminal Court May 11. Betsy Herzog, a spokeswoman for the DA, said Tuesday all six defendants were ordered to pay $125,000 in restitution to the victims.
Maroti, Cherpelis, and Kalloudis could face a sentence of probation as youthful offenders, Herzog said, while Kalloudis, Stein and Nardozi were expected to be sentenced to a year in jail each. Dancuart, Herzog said, was facing a sentence of 2 1/2 to seven years in jail, but it was unclear as of press time Tuesday why he could get more prison time.
The six used a homemade explosive based on a recipe from the Internet to start the fire and chose their target because they believed one of the residents was gay, the complaint said.
One person suffered minor injuries in the blaze that caused $125,000 damage to the Douglaston home, according to the criminal complaint.
But after the guilty pleas the mother of the victim said “my son is not gay. I think a 19-year-old has been through quite enough.”
The six were supposedly planning to bomb a different home but were chased away before they could do any damage, the criminal complaint said.
The homemade explosive was placed on a windowsill in the front of the home about midnight, according to the criminal complaint.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
