Houston Businessman Sentenced to 105 Months for Directing Arson of Former Partner's Bar
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced on October 30, 2026, that Lyndell Leroy Price, 44, a businessman in Houston, Harris County, Texas, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake to serve 105 months in federal prison, to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to commit arson of a commercial building. Price, a former owner of Houston's well-known Turkey Leg Hut restaurant, pleaded guilty on June 11.
As part of his plea, Price admitted he directed others to intentionally set fire to Bar 5015, a business on Almeda Road in Houston owned by his former partner. Shortly before the fire, court records show, the owner had declined Price's offer to buy into the bar and refused to sell his interest in the Turkey Leg Hut, an establishment Price co-owned with his estranged wife.
In the early morning hours of June 12, 2020, the conspirators bought gasoline and gas cans before going to an area near the business. Wearing face coverings and carrying gasoline-filled containers, they walked to Bar 5015, poured gasoline across the entrance ramp and deck, ignited it, and fled. The fire caused significant damage to the business and endangered nearby occupied homes, commercial properties and the electrical grid. After the arson, a member of the conspiracy called Price to report that the mission was complete, and the conspirators then received payment from Price for their roles in the crime. In handing down the sentence, Judge Lake noted that Price directed the arson without any regard for the safety of those who live nearby or the damage the explosion and fire would have on neighboring businesses, and said his lack of respect for the law warranted a high sentence as a measure of deterrence and to protect the community.
Four other Houston men, John Lee Price, 39, Armani Williams, 28, Miziah Shepherd, 28, and Javon Harris, 27, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge and will be sentenced at a later date. Price will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility. The investigation was conducted by FBI Houston, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Houston Fire Department Arson Bureau, with assistance from the Houston Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Harris County Constable's Office, Precinct 4. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sebastian A. Edwards and Keri Fuller prosecuted the case.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Houston 市政厅（城市固定图库）。 / Photo: Houston City Hall (city file photo).
