A Pennsylvania woman has been sentenced up to three years in prison for intentionally setting fire to her rented home in 2023 as a part of a scheme to collect an insurance payout.
According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, investigators found Emmajean Mowery committed the crimes to receive a payout to help cover a previous, court-ordered restitution sum for burning a previous home. Mowery increased her insurance policy weeks before the 2023 arson fire.
Mowery, of Kittanning, pleaded guilty to three felonies: two counts of arson and one count of insurance fraud. The sentencing judge ordered Mowery to pay more than $110,000 in restitution to the insurance company that paid out.
“This greedy, self-serving plot was an attempt to defraud an insurance company while putting emergency responders, neighbors and other occupants of the home at grave risk,” Sunday said.
The investigation was referred to the attorney general’s office by an insurance investigator. The attorney general’s insurance fraud section also prosecuted Mowery for the prior arson.
According to the investigation, Mowery set fire to the rental property she was living at in Rayburn Township in November 2023. She told the insurance company that someone else living in the home accidentally started the fire. After investigating her claims, the insurance company determined that the fire was intentionally set.
Mowery failed to disclose that she was previously convicted of insurance fraud on her insurance application. At the time of the 2023 fire, Mowery still owed around $57,000 in restitution from her prior conviction.
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