San Antonio man gets 6 years in prison after cell tower arson fires
“Witnesses reported the defendant was on a ‘mission’ to destroy the 5G towers because he hated the Government and believed they were spying on him.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg
Wrote in a sentencing memorandum
A San Antonio man has been sentenced to 61⁄2 years in prison for trying to burn down cellphone towers — and for being a felon with a gun.
Sean Aaron Smith, 30, admitted to damaging six towers in the area, though San Antonio Fire Department arson investigators suspected him of trying to destroy as many as 22, according to court records.
The total damage to the 22 towers was more than $1.12 million, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez on Wednesday.
“My office will not tolerate attacks on our critical infrastructure, seeking to shut down our cellular telephone system and endangering our citizens who need to use our 911 emergency systems,” Jaime Esparza, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said in a news release.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Doug Olson, who oversees the FBI San Antonio Division, said Smith sought to burn down cell towers throughout the city “in support of his anti-5G ideology.”
As part of a plea deal in August, Smith admitted he tried to damage or destroy several cell towers between April 2021 and May 2022. Smith also pleaded guilty to two unrelated counts of being a felon with a gun.
“Witnesses reported the defendant was on a ‘mission’ to destroy the 5G towers because he hated the Government and believed they were spying on him,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “The SAFD arson investigator’s expert opinion is the modus operandi of the other 16 cellular tower arsons match the six towers for which the Defendant pled guilty and that all 22 arsons were committed by the same person.”
Surveillance footage showed Smith at some of the towers shortly before they went up in flames. He disguised himself as a workman, wearing a mask to cover his face, and attacked the cell towers at night or in early morning hours, the memorandum said.
San Antonio police arrested him during a traffic stop May 13, 2022. Officers found a handgun on the floorboard in front of the driver’s seat of the car. The officers served a search warrant at his apartment and found more firearms.
Smith knowingly possessed the firearms after being convicted of two felony crimes. He was convicted of burglary in 2014 and of being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2018. He served 18 months in prison for the burglary and 14 months for the firearm charge, the memorandum states.