By AP/KWMU
East St. Louis, Ill. – A former alderman in the Metro East community of Waterloo was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Monday for arranging to have his pizza restaurant burned to collect insurance money.
U.S. District Judge William Stiehl also ordered Michael Augustine to pay $190,000 in restitution.
Augustine pleaded guilty in September to federal fraud charges in connection ith the August 2003 fire at his Pop 'n Pizza restaurant in Cahokia. That was three months after Augustine bought the business.
Under the plea deal with prosecutors, conspiracy and arson charges were dropped.
In 2004, a friend of Augustine's pleaded guilty to arson. Augustine lost his Waterloo City Council seat in April.