Man sentenced to ten years for ‘maliciously’ setting three Swift Transportation semi trailers on fire in Arizona

A Michigan resident was sentenced to prison for multiple acts of arson in Arizona targeting trailers owned by a nationwide trucking company.

On January 29, 2026, Viorel Pricop, 67, of Allen Park, Michigan, was sentenced to 120 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

In August 2024, a jury found Pricop guilty of Arson of a Vehicle or Property in Interstate Commerce following an eight-day trial.

Officials say that Pricop set fire to three semi trailers in the state of Arizona, all belonging to Phoenix-based trucking company Swift Transportation. Two of the trailer arsons occurred in Willcox, Arizona, and one occurred in Holbrook, Arizona.

The Arizona trailer fires were part of a larger arson scheme during which Pricop set fire to at least 16 additional Swift Transportation trailers in multiple other states between October 2021 and September 2022, according to authorities.

Most of the trailer arsons took place along I-10 and I-40 at locations spanning from Barstow, California, to McCalla, Alabama.

Pricop was issued federal criminal charges in several other districts and was found guilty of six arsons by a California jury in 2024.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Pricop served time for a previous incident involving Swift:

“Pricop was convicted in 2018 in the Eastern District of Michigan for a tax offense and transportation of stolen goods, charges stemming from an investigation conducted by Swift. Pricop was sentenced to time served in that case, amounting to approximately 26 months’ imprisonment. His term of supervised release ended in June 2019, approximately two years before the arsons in this case began.“

“This defendant left a nation-wide path of destruction that threatened lives, property, and critical infrastructure,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine. “Thanks to the dedicated work of federal prosecutors and ATF agents, the DoJ brought him to justice. This case is proof that the federal government will bring its full weight to bear in order to stop dangerous and destructive criminals.”

“The ten-year sentence handed down to Pricop marks the culmination of a multi-year, multi-state investigation into a dangerous campaign of targeted arson,” said Shawn Stallo, ATF Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Phoenix Field Division. “This successful outcome was made possible through the exhaustive use of ATF resources, including our K-9 units, the Fire Research Laboratory, and the technical expertise of our Certified Fire Investigators who methodically linked these fires across the country. By leveraging these specialized tools to hold this serial arsonist accountable, we have ensured that he can no longer threaten the lives of drivers or the safety of our nation’s interstate commerce.”