Craig Blum, 44, set fire to Bellmore club in December 2014
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Hicksville man was sentenced to prison today in connection with a December 2014 incident in which he set fire to a strip club and stole merchandise from a tobacco shop.
Craig Blum, 44, pleaded guilty on June 16 to one count each of Arson in the 2nd Degree (a B felony) and Burglary in the 3rd Degree (a D felony).
Blum was sentenced by Acting Supreme Court Justice Judge Phillip Grella to five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision as well as restitution in the amount of $37,676.67 to be paid in civil judgment and an order of protection for a victim.
“The defendant recklessly set fire to a building and endangered the lives of many people that night,” Acting DA Singas said. “Thanks to the hard work of the Arson/Bomb Squad Detectives of the Nassau County Police Department and our prosecutors, the defendant will spend the next five years of his life paying for his reckless behavior.”
Acting DA Singas said that in the early morning hours of December 15, Blum set fire to the rear of Billy Dean’s Showtime Café in Bellmore causing damage to a hallway and bathroom. The North Bellmore Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the fire. After the arson incident, Blum drove to a nearby tobacco shop, kicked in the front door and stole candy as well as smoking paraphernalia.
Assistant District Attorney Patrick Brand of Acting DA Singas’ County Court Bureau is prosecuting the case. Blum is represented by Cornell Bouse, Esq.