A former Winfield insurance agent pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Beckley to arson and witness tampering charges.
Jimmie Harper Jr., 36, admitted that he set fire to his home last year inside the Stonegate subdivision in Scott Depot. A firefighter with the Teays Valley Volunteer Fire Department was injured fighting the blaze.
The details of the arson were revealed for the first time Tuesday in a plea agreement Harper entered into with federal prosecutors.
Harper arranged for someone to buy three QuantumFire 12-button long-range remote firing systems to remotely ignite a fire inside his home at 7 Stonegate Drive. That person wasn't identified, but federal prosecutors know who it is.
Harper admitted that he placed a chair with a tire in it in a room inside his home, intending to start the fire there. He placed a string-type material around the tire and chair and covered it with a paste material that he made from combing the phosphorous from matches and butane, the plea deal filed Tuesday states.
Harper then knocked out the drywall in the room so that the fire would spread further into the framing of the house, according to the federal court filing.
Harper moved his valuables, furniture and other items out of his home and put them in a storage unit in Winfield before the fire. He also arranged to be out of town the day of the fire so his house would be empty, he admitted.
At about 3 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2015, the person known to federal prosecutors drove by the home and hit the button on the remote firing system, which ignited the fire.
At about 6:30 a.m., the Teays Valley fire department was dispatched to the residence.
One firefighter fell through the floor in the kitchen after trying to search the residence. He sustained minor burns to his lower body, according to Harper's plea deal.
The day after the fire, Harper called in a fire claim to his insurance company, Auto Club Insurance Association, for $624,200 in structural damage and $468,150 in personal property loss.
Harper had been a Nationwide Mutual Insurance agent with an office in Winfield.
The witness tampering charge stems from a separate incident, after Harper's friend was charged with kidnapping in Raleigh County.
Last December, Seth T. Radcliffe, Harper's longtime friend, was charged with kidnapping his ex-girlfriend from her Coal City home. He allegedly shot through the door of her parents' home on Racetrack Road and took her to North Carolina.
Harper admitted Tuesday that he tried to convince the woman and her mother to provide false testimony when they were called to testify before a grand jury against Radcliffe.
Harper was arrested in February and has been held in Southern Regional Jail without bail. He agreed to be charged by information rather than indictment, which can't be filed without a defendant's consent and usually signals a defendant has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Irene Berger will sentence Harper on Aug. 10. He faces between 7 and 40 years in prison for arson and up to 20 years for the witness tampering charge.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.