Brockton Man Indicted for Burning Federal Building
BOSTON, Mass. — A Brockton man was indicted today in federal court with setting fire to a building leased by the United States Probation Office in Plymouth.
JAMES ANDREW DIX, 64, who had been previously charged by federal criminal complaint, was charged in an indictment with maliciously damaging and destroying by means of fire a building leased to the United States.
Dix, who had been on federal probation, is alleged to have visited the U.S. Probation Office on Long Pond Road in Plymouth, on Oct. 4, 2010, to report that he believed he had violated the terms of his probation and that he wished to be taken into federal custody. Dix was subsequently referred for inpatient evaluation at Jordan Hospital. Later that day, upon his release from the hospital, Dix allegedly returned to the U.S. Probation Office after purchasing gasoline and a lighter at a nearby Shell station. Dix, using a metal pipe that he had in his car to break the first-floor window, poured gasoline through the window, ignited a napkin and tossed it through the window causing the fire to start. Dix waited for emergency personnel to respond to the fire and then admitted to police officers that he had started the fire intentionally to get the attention of federal authorities.
If convicted on these charges, Dix faces up to 20 years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Guy N. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – Boston Field Division; Timothy Bane, Regional Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protection Service; Timothy J. Cruz, Plymouth County District Attorney; Chief Michael E. Botieri of the Plymouth Police Department; Fire Chief G. Edward Bradley of the Plymouth Fire Department and Colonel Marian McGovern, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nadine Pellegrini and Eric P. Christofferson of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
The details contained in the indictment and complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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