STOP & GO MINI-MART OWNER ENTERS GUILTY PLEA ON ARSON RELATED CHARGES

CAROLINE COUNTY, MD (April 20, 2015) – Gary Greenwood (62) plead guilty in Caroline County Circuit Court to charges of 1st Degree Malicious Burning and False Misleading Information. Sentencing is as follows: Five years imprisonment with all but eighteen months suspended on the 1st Degree Malicious Burning charge, ten years with all ten years suspended on the charge of False Misleading Information, five years supervised probation, he was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to the insurance company and $178.50 in court costs. His wife Holly Greenwood (56) charges were placed on the Stet docket.

A three and a half year intensive investigation by the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms culminated into Arson 2nd Degree, Malicious Burning 1st Degree, Malicious Burning Fraud, Theft Scheme and (2) counts of False/Misleading Information charges against Gary Greenwood and (2) counts of False/Misleading Information charges against Holly Greenwood.

On July 1, 2011, Deputy State Fire Marshals and Special Agents with the ATF investigated a four alarm blaze at the Stop & Go Mini-Mart and gas station located at 521 & 523 South Main Street in Federalsburg. The blaze was called in at approximately 3:50 a.m. by a passerby. The fire heavily damaged two connected masonry structures. The 50’ x 70’ structure housed the Stop & Go Mini-Mart and the 45’ x 50’ structure was vacant and advertised for lease. Gas pumps and fuel tanks were not compromised during the fire. An estimated 75 firefighters from 8 fire companies took approximately one hour and 30 minutes to control the 4 alarm blaze. One firefighter from Federalsburg VFC received a small laceration near his eye and was transported and released from Nanticoke Hospital in Seaford, DE. Damages estimates for both structures and contents are $400,000.