An Atlantic City man pleaded guilty to a charge of causing widespread damage, prosecutors said.
Khalil Washington, 42, entered a plea Friday in Superior Court that calls for a seven-year sentence in New Jersey State Prison.
Police said officers were called Aug. 18, 2025, to the High Gates apartment building on Absecon Boulevard for a reported fire. Investigators said surveillance video showed Washington gathering items from a trash room, setting them on fire outside an apartment door, then lighting a paper plate and holding it up to a ceiling sprinkler.
The sprinkler activated and flooded the building, prosecutors said. Washington was arrested at the scene and taken to a hospital for injuries caused by the force of the sprinkler.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 17.