(KRON) — The brother of late NFL star and Army Ranger Pat Tillman is facing up to two decades in prison for intentionally crashing his car into a United States Post Office in San Jose and lighting the car on fire.
Richard Tillman, 44, said he was trying to “make a point to the United States government” during the July 20, 2025 post office incident, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of government property by fire in federal court Monday.
“In preparation for the fire, Tillman purchased firelogs and lighter fluid. He then drove to the Post Office with firelogs in the vehicle, backed the vehicle through the building’s front door, exited the vehicle, spread lighter fluid throughout the vehicle, threw a lit match into the vehicle, and exited the Post Office. The fire quickly spread from the vehicle to the Post Office, completely destroying its lobby,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of California wrote.
Richard Tillman listens in a San Jose courtroom on July 23, 2025. (KRON4 Photo)
As the post office went up in flames, Richard Tillman allegedly sprayed an unfinished message in Spanish with graffiti.
“Tillman admitted to spray painting the words ‘Viva La Me’ on the building after starting the fire, but did not finish what he wanted to write because the heat from the fire was too intense,” United States Postal Inspector Shannon Roark wrote in court documents.
Richard Tillman is seen on stage during the 2003 ESPY Awards in Hollywood, California. (Photo by M. Caulfield/ WireImage for ESPN / via Getty Images)
He livestreamed the incident at 6525 Crown Boulevard on his YouTube channel, named MepapasSon13, court documents state.
The Tillman family said he has been battling severe mental health issues for many years. Richard Tillman previously told a judge that he was homeless.
Richard Tillman, the brother of Pat Tillman, raises a glass of Guiness beer as he speaks at a memorial service for his brother on May 3, 2004 in San Jose. (Photo by David Paul Morris /Getty Images)
His brother, Pat Tillman, left the Arizona Cardinals NFL team to enlist in the U.S. Army following 9/11. He was killed in action while fighting in Afghanistan in 2004.
Prosecutors said, as a result of his guilty peal, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a minimum sentence of five years.
(Photo courtesy San Jose Fire Department)
He is being held in federal custody. On April 27, Richard Tillman will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, the same judge who gave disgraced Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes an 11-year prison sentence.
The case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI, and the San Jose Police Department.
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