Show-Me State Times

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon from St. Louis, Missouri, on Wednesday admitted to committing two arsons in St. Louis in 2022 and being caught with two firearms during the resulting investigation.

Vaely Berry, 52, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two arson charges and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He admitted throwing a gasoline-filled bottle on the roof of a supermarket and grill in the 8300 block of North Broadway in St. Louis on July 15, 2022, igniting a fire.

Berry used two gasoline-filled bottles on Dec. 8, 2022, to set the roof of a liquor store in the 5900 block of Lillian Avenue in St. Louis on fire.

During the investigation of the fires, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent conducting a court-approved search of Berry’s home found a revolver and a shotgun. Berry admitted knowing that as a convicted felon, he is barred from possessing firearms.

Berry is scheduled to be sentenced November 13. The arson charges are punishable by five to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. The firearm charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and the same fine.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware is prosecuting the case.

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