Free Republic

Everett, Wash. Published: Saturday, September 1, 2007 Everett man sentenced to 3 years for 2004 fire By Jim Haley, Herald Writer SEATTLE -- An Everett man who helped disguise a 2004 arson as a hate crime was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday. He also will be required to pay $200,000 restitution for damaging the building that housed the Continental Spices market in south Everett. Naveed Kahn, 25, testified against the owner of the store, Mizra Akram, 40, who also was found guilty by a judge in February and was sentenced to more than four years behind bars. The...

A Pakistani immigrant accused of burning down his grocery store in Everett and trying to make it look like a hate crime has been convicted of arson. Mizra Akram, 40, could face as much as five years in prison for the crime. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman convicted him Wednesday. Akram owned Continental Spices, a Pakistani and Middle Eastern grocery. Prosecutors said he recruited an acquaintance, Naveed Khan, to help set the July 2004 fire after the store's finances worsened. The government alleged that the two tried to remove attention from themselves by spray-painting anti-Muslim graffiti around the store. Khan...