Prison Term Handed Out to Former Bruno's Pizza Shop Owner

NEW HAVEN, CT — The owner of a Route 5 pizza shop who pleaded guilty in April to charges related to an arson fire at his business was sentenced to prison Friday.

Mustafa Zabana, who had pleaded guilty to a charge of mail fraud, was sentenced to 18 months in prison by a U.S. District Court judge for swindling Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, after fire officials determined he had intentionally set a fire at his restaurant, Bruno's Pizza, in June 2016.

The fire caused considerable damage to the restaurant, located in the Enfield Plaza at 634 Enfield Street, as well as at neighboring Edible Arrangements, whose owner was forced to discard its inventory.

According to a U.S. Government sentencing memo, the scheme began the evening of June 3, 2016, after an accidental grease fire in a pizza oven. After sending all but one of his employees home, Zabana told the remaining worker he intended to set another fire and "rebuild a better, more successful restaurant with the insurance proceeds."

Upon instruction from Zabana, the employee purchased a container of lighter fluid at a nearby convenience store. Zabana then started a fire using the lighter fluid on a pile of restaurant menus, the government memo stated.

An Iraqi citizen, Zabana has been held without bond since his arrest in March 2017. He will receive credit for time served as part of his sentence.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

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