Deli Owner Tried To Burn Down New Competitor

Two New Yorkers were convicted by a jury for trying to burn down a competitor's deli. Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Friday that Redhwan Saleh, 37, of Brooklyn, and Antoine Bostick, 32, of New Rochelle, were found guilty in connection with their participation in an arson in the Bronx.

The verdict followed a four-day trial.

"A unanimous Manhattan jury has found Redhwan Saleh guilty of planning and paying three men to execute the arson of a competing deli in his Riverdale neighborhood," Berman said. "Saleh and his co-defendant, Antoine Bostick, have found out the hard way that playing with fire usually leads to getting burned, and possibly prison."

According to allegations in the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Saleh owns deli near the intersection of 242nd Street and Broadway in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

After he learned that a competing deli was about to open a few stores down from his Saleh paid three men, including Bostick, to set the new deli on fire.

On Sept. 11, 2016, a few weeks before the new deli opened, Bostick climbed onto the new deli's roof, poured gasoline down the vent pipe and lit the gas on fire.

The new deli and a neighboring store both suffered extensive fire damage, and the new deli's opening was substantially delayed.

In addition to Saleh and Bostick, Arthur Cherry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and arson, among other crimes. Richard Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson.

Salen was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and arson, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Bostick was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson. He was found not guilty of arson.

They will both be sentenced March 15, 2019.

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