Charleston, W.Va. - United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Phillip Wayne Workman, 36, of Logan, West Virginia, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison for obstructing a joint state and federal arson investigation into a Feb. 1, 2012 fire that destroyed a commercial building at 111 Stratton Street in downtown Logan. Although four individuals-James Gregory Glick, Guy R. Miller, Shawn C. Simon and William Jamey Thompson-pled guilty to their respective roles in the conspiracy to burn the Stratton Street property for the $1 million insurance policy, Workman obstructed that investigation by providing false information to law enforcement, accusing other innocent individuals of conspiring to burn down the building. Workman went so far as to stage a fake secret meeting with an individual in an attempt to corroborate his claims. At his plea hearing on Oct. 31, 2013, Workman admitted that he completely fabricated the meeting, thereby obstructing and jeopardizing the arson and insurance fraud investigation.
Glick, 44, of Logan, will be sentenced on March 13, 2014. Miller, 39, of Logan, and Simon, 41, Charleston, will be sentenced on March 20, 2014. Thompson, 44, of Chapmanville, will be sentenced on March 24, 2014.
United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston imposed today’s sentence. The West Virginia State Police and the IRS conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Ryan is in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
