Metro-east man admits he set fire so co-conspirator could make phony insurance claim

A Venice man pleaded guilty Thursday in the federal court for southern Illinois to his part in a scheme to set residential properties on fire then collect fraudulent insurance benefits.

Rufis A. Jefferson, 47, pleaded guilty to 14 federal felony charges including one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit arson.

Evette B. Osuegbu, 61, of Granite City, also was indicted on the same 14 counts for her alleged part of the scheme. Her case is still pending.

According to court documents filed in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Jefferson admitted to being paid off by Osuegbu to burn her St. Louis apartment on Dec. 31, 2022, so that she could collect insurance money.

In addition to the New Years Eve fire at Spanish Lake Apartments, Jefferson also admitted to conspiring to burn two additional buildings in Granite City and Venice.

Plans in Granite City and Venice were dashed, however, when Jefferson and Osuegbu shared details with a confidential informant with the U.S. Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which also led to their arrests, court documents show.

Osuegbu’s insurer is estimated to have paid out more than $30,000 for the St. Louis apartment fire.

According to the indictment, Osuegbu instructed the ATF informant to increase the renter’s insurance coverage on the Granite City property.

It also alleges that Osuegbu told Jefferson she didn’t want to know how the fire would be started but told him “it would be better to have it look like the fire was caused by playing children or something that tipped over so that she would get paid under the landlord’s insurance.”

She also allegedly told the informant how Jefferson started the Spanish Lake fire by spraying Everclear liquor on the floors and furniture and igniting it with a hot clothes iron.

In his “attempts to keep the (informant) engaged in the plan to burn the residences for insurance money,” Jefferson bragged about his skills in setting fires.

“I’m an arsonist,” Jefferson assured the informant, according to court records. That insurance policy is “a gold mine” and that house “is going down.”

Days later, Osuegbu warned the informant to “deal with Jefferson cautiously because he is prone to talking too much when he drinks and she was considering whether to keep Jefferson involved,” the complaint states.

“Under federal law, intentionally igniting residential buildings to file insurance claims for the damages and collect benefits is committing fraud, and law enforcement is working to prosecute offenders of these hazardous crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe in a news release.

Jefferson’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 25. He faces a sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment per count.

The U.S. Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Burke and Zoe Gross are prosecuting the case.