WASHINGTON – A former Bellevue resident who set fire to a popular gay Seattle nightclub just after midnight on New Year’s 2014 pleaded guilty to arson Friday in U.S. District Court.
Musab Mohammed Masmari carried a one gallon tank of gas into the crowded club in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood around 11:30 PM on December 31, 2013, concealing the gas tank in his shopping bag.
Just after midnight, Masmari poured some of the gasoline on a staircase in Neighbours and hid the gas container behind a planter at the top of the stairs, officials said.
The container was still more than half full of gasoline. At 12:06 a.m., Masmari lit the gas he had poured on the stairs and hastily left the club. Masmari was identified as a suspect following a review of surveillance videos.
“This defendant violated people’s right to gather safely: he put more than 700 lives at risk when he purposely started a fire at a crowded nightclub on New Year’s Eve,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “Thankfully, the staff and patrons at Neighbours moved quickly to evacuate the club and extinguish the flames. Federal prosecution ensures a five year mandatory minimum sentence – one that is more than double the potential sentence faced in state court.”
Officials said Masmari was arrested by the Seattle Police Department and FBI on February 1, 2014 as he was preparing to travel to Sea-Tac Airport for international travel.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, both sides will recommend the mandatory minimum of five years in prison when Masmari is sentenced in July.