In February the brother of the late NFL war hero Pat Tillman plead guilty to firebombing a post office in California.
Richard Tillman pleaded guilty in a Federal courtroom after prosecutors presented a plethora of evidence showing Tillman firebombing a post office.
Richard’s brother was Pat Tillman, who played for the Arizona Cardinals before enlisting in the Army, but was later tragically killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
Now a judge has officially sentenced Richard Tillman to five years in prison.
NBC Bay Area had the full scoop of the trial:
The brother of Pat Tillman, an NFL star turned Army Ranger who died in Afghanistan, was sentenced to five years in federal prison for setting a fire that caused major damage to the Almaden Valley Post Office in San Jose.
Richard Tillman, 45, of San Jose, pleaded guilty in February to malicious destruction of government property by fire on July 20, 2025.
Tillman was also given a three-year period of supervised released and ordered to pay $2,371,682 in restitution to the U.S. Postal Service.
Tillman said he intentionally set the fire to “make a point to the United States government,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern California said in a statement. The event was livestreamed on YouTube.
Tillman bought fire logs and lighter fluid, then backed his vehicle into the front door of the post office before spreading lighter fluid through his car and lighting it on fire with a match.
The post office’s lobby, which housed USPS retail and post office boxes, was destroyed and has been closed ever since, according to prosecutors.
Pat Tillman joined the U.S. Army in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He rejected a three-year, $3.6 million contract extension from the Arizona Cardinals.
He was reported killed on April 22, 2004, at the age of 27, by what was later revealed to be friendly fire.
Here was the post office that Tillman set on fire:
#FBI Case Update: Today, Richard Tillman was sentenced to five years in federal prison for arson. Tillman, 45, was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 7, 2025. Tillman pleaded guilty to one count of Malicious Destruction of Government Property by Fire on February 9, 2026.… pic.twitter.com/qRZibLyn7K
— FBI SanFrancisco (@FBISanFrancisco) June 16, 2026
Full text:
Case Update: Today, Richard Tillman was sentenced to five years in federal prison for arson. Tillman, 45, was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 7, 2025. Tillman pleaded guilty to one count of Malicious Destruction of Government Property by Fire on February 9, 2026.
According to the plea agreement, Tillman admitted to intentionally setting fire to the Almaden Valley United States Post Office located at 6525 Crown Boulevard in San Jose, California, on July 20, 2025. Tillman admitted that he intentionally set the fire in order to “make a point to the United States government.”
In preparation for the fire, Tillman purchased firelogs and lighter fluid. He then drove to the Post Office with firelogs in his 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. Prior to July 20, 2025, the lobby of the Post Office was open to the public during business hours for retail transactions and access to post office boxes.
The fire rendered the lobby unusable, and it has not been available to the public since. In addition to the prison term, Judge Davila also sentenced Tillman to a three-year period of supervised release and ordered Tillman to pay restitution of $2,371,682 to the United States Postal Service. The defendant was immediately remanded into custody.
If you never heard the full story of Pat Tillman’s death make sure to check out this video:
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