An Ansonia man took a plea deal Wednesday that will see him sentenced to five years behind bars for setting fire last March to a Derby apartment he lived in.
Edward Minerly, 52, pleaded no contest to a charge of second-degree arson before Judge Frank Iannotti at Superior Court in Milford.
He also admitted two counts of violating probationary terms he was serving at the time of the fire for prior convictions.
The arson charge related to a March 22, 2013 fire that began in Minerly’s apartment at 130 Main St., a two-story building in downtown Derby.
Derby firefighter Mike Tracz Sr. and his son, Mike Tracz Jr., arrived soon after the fire was reported about 7 p.m.
Tracz Sr. kicked in the back door of the smoke-filled building to get to Minerly’s apartment, then rescued Minerly, who uses a wheelchair, and helped carry him down two flights of stairs outside the building to safety.
Minerly, his wife, and a Derby police officer were taken to Griffin Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. There were no other injuries.
According to an arrest warrant in the case, suspicion fell on Minerly almost immediately.
Story continues after the photo gallery from 2013:
EMTs and firefighters told police soon after the fire that Minerly had on several occasions warned them there would be a fire in the building someday, the warrant says.
Derby Fire Marshal Phil Hawks determined the origin of the fire to be in a couch and loveseat in an empty apartment next to Minerly’s.
Cops also reviewed surveillance video from a liquor store on the building’s first floor, which the warrant said showed no one going in or out of the building for an hour before the fire except for Minerly’s wife, who can be seen leaving the building about 14 minutes before the blaze began.
“Their investigation led them to believe that this fire was intentionally, not accidentally, set,” State’s Attorney Kevin Lawlor said in court Wednesday.
The prosecutor said Minerly’s motive for setting the fire was simple — he wanted to move.
“Apparently he was upset with the housing he had been provided,” Lawlor said. “He wanted a different apartment.”
The blaze caused about $8,500 worth of damage, Lawlor said.
The plea deal hammered out between Lawlor and Minery’s lawyers, Public Defender Kenneth Bunker and Donna Candella, calls for a 15-year prison sentence to be suspended after Minerly serves five years behind bars, followed by five years of probation.
The sentence will run at the same time as a four-to-10-month sentence Minerly faces in an unrelated federal criminal case — for fabricating brutality claims against Derby police officers.
Minerly pleaded guilty in federal court in Hartford Tuesday in that case, and will be sentenced Feb. 10.
On Wednesday Judge Iannotti continued the arson case to Jan. 28 so probation officials can determine whether the judge should order Minerly to pay any restitution for the damage caused by the fire.
