Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Monday, January 24, 2022, Nicholas Fontaine, 23, of Monroe, was sentenced to nine years in state prison and five years post-release supervision in connection with a house-fire which occurred in the early morning hours of May 5, 2021, on Juniper Drive, in Monroe. On October 26, 2021, Fontaine pleaded guilty in Orange County Court to Arson in the Second Degree. The defendant’s former girlfriend and her family were in the house at the time the fire erupted, damaging the outside of the residence and destroying a car in the driveway of the residence.

Prosecutors argued that at about 1:40 a.m. on May 5, 2021, Fontaine and another had repeatedly poured gasoline over a 2018 Hyundai Elantra automobile belonging to Fontaine’s former girlfriend which was parked next to her residence. Ring camera recordings showed the car being set ablaze and the fire quickly spreading to the siding of the residence, which quickly became engulfed in flames. Fontaine admitted that he had reason to believe that the residence was occupied at the time the fire was started. Fortunately no one was injured in the incident.

On Thursday, October 28, 2021, Emanuel Watson, 24, of Monroe, admitted acting in concert with Fontaine in setting the fire. On December 14, 2021, Watson was sentenced to five years in state prison, and five years post-release supervision, in connection with his actions in helping Fontaine set the fire

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the New York State Police for their investigation of the case and the fire companies who responded to the fire. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Tanja Beemer.