Richard Tillman pleaded guilty in February to one felony count of “malicious destruction of government property” and said he burned down a San Jose post office because he was the “second coming” trying to “wake people up.”<\/p>\n
SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) \u2014 A federal judge sentenced a man to 60 months in prison Monday for setting fire to a San Jose post office last year.<\/p>\n
Richard Tillman, 45, brother of the late NFL player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, pleaded guilty in February after initially pleading not guilty<\/a> in August to a federal indictment<\/a> charging him with one count of \u201cmalicious destruction of government property by fire.\u201d Prosecutors accused Tillman of crashing his car into a San Jose post office and setting the building ablaze in July 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry for burning a building down, but I was trying to wake people up,\u201d Tillman said at Monday\u2019s sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n U.S. District Judge Edward Davila sentenced him to the mandatory minimum of five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and $2.3 million in restitution.<\/p>\n Before imposing the sentence, Davila, a Barack Obama appointee, asked Tillman\u2019s public defender, Varell Fuller, whether he wished to speak on his client\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has lived a remarkable life,\u201d said Fuller. \u201cOne of profound grief and profound loss.\u201d<\/p>\n In the courtroom Monday, wearing a dark green jumpsuit, with long gray hair and a long gray beard going white in the middle, Tillman expressed his thoughts when given the opportunity by Davila.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t burn down a building for no reason,\u201d Tillman said before launching into a lengthy monologue about creationism, the government and his family. He said he set fire to the post office to get people\u2019s attention because he believed he was the \u201cson of God\u201d and a \u201cguinea pig of God.\u201d<\/p>\n Never raising his voice nor appearing angry, Tillman said, \u201cmy imagination is very wild,\u201d and he \u201chad to physically kill myself\u201d to be able to commit the crime.<\/p>\n \u201cPat, by the way, is me,\u201d he said. \u201cPat Tillman\u2019s little brother says he is the second coming and it is barely in the news. I put them through hell,\u201d he said. \u201cI put myself through hell.\u201d<\/p>\n Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Pitman said he \u201cdidn\u2019t have much to add,\u201d and pushed back on Fuller\u2019s suggestion to waive restitution.<\/p>\n Pat Tillman was killed in a friendly-fire incident in Afghanistan in 2004 after the military initially reported that he had died from enemy fire. A 2007 Defense Department report later revealed<\/a> the true circumstances of his death, making national headlines.<\/p>\n Prosecutors said Richard Tillman crashed his car into the Almaden Valley Post Office in South San Jose around 3 a.m. on July 20, 2025, after loading it with several \u201cInstalogs,\u201d fire-starting logs that he also doused in lighter fluid.<\/p>\n According to the\u00a0criminal complaint<\/a>, Tillman then exited his car and used a match to light both the building and his vehicle on fire, all while livestreaming the event on YouTube.<\/p>\n Tillman also admitted to spray painting the words \u201cViva La Me\u201d on the building after starting the fire but said he didn\u2019t finish writing his intended message because the heat from the fire became too intense.<\/p>\n Tillman told officers from the San Jose Police Department that he set the building on fire because he was \u201ctrying to make a statement to the United States government.\u201d<\/p>\n Davila granted Fuller and Pitman\u2019s recommendation that Tillman go into a residential drug treatment program, which also handles mental health issues, during his incarceration in a minimum-security prison yet to be decided.<\/p>\n In court Monday, Davila asked both Fuller and Tillman a few times if Tillman understood what was happening.<\/p>\n \u201cThe magnitude?\u201d asked Tillman. \u201cYes, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI did the crime, and I am more than happy to do the time,\u201d said Tillman.<\/p>\n As he exited the courtroom, he smiled and waved to family members in the audience.<\/p>\n Categories \/ Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing
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