Gregory J. Haanstad, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on January 12, 2017, Jeremy J. Neumann (age: 43) of Neenah, Wisconsin, was found guilty following a jury trial in federal court in Green Bay, Wisconsin, of the following charges: (1) arson of a building in interstate commerce in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 844(i); (2) mail fraud in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1341; (3) arson in conjunction with another federal felony in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 844(h); and (4) three counts of making a false statement to a federal agency, that being the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1001.
The evidence at trial revealed that on November 6, 2015, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Neumann destroyed by fire the Anchorage Realty building located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for purposes of financial gain. He rented warehouse space at that building for his business known as Gambit McDermott, which involved the sale of merchandise returned to retail stores. Neumann started the fire in his warehouse space and it quickly spread to the rest of the building damaging the property of many other tenants. The building was later leveled. When interviewed by law enforcement, Neumann denied being present at his warehouse space at the time of the fire. Law enforcement later obtained information from Neumann that placed him there when the fire started. Further, the government presented a video, recorded from an interior video camera within Anchorage Realty, capturing an individual, determined to be Neumann, in the warehouse at the time of the fire. Following the fire, Neumann submitted a proof of loss claim to his insurance company seeking to collect on the insurance policy after increasing the value thereof, a mere 10 days prior to the fire.
As a result of these convictions, Neumann faces a mandatory 10-year prison term that must be run consecutive to the mail fraud sentence. The arson of a building in interstate commerce charge has a five-year prison term mandatory minimum and a 20-year maximum. The false statement counts each have a five-year prison maximum. Sentencing in the matter is set before Chief Federal Judge William C. Griesbach on April 10, 2017. Neumann remains incarcerated pending that hearing.
The case was investigated by ATF, the Wisconsin Department of Justice- Division of Criminal Investigation- Arson Bureau, the Oshkosh Police Department, Oshkosh Fire Department, and Winnebago County District Attorney’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys William J. Roach and Zachary Corey.
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