Arsonist gets seven years in prison

By Amanda Stewart

Published: July 28, 2008

A Woodbridge man was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for setting fire to two businesses on U.S. 1 in Woodbridge in November.

Raymond Potoski, 38, pleaded guilty in May to arson and aiding and abetting for the fires that caused more than $2 million in damages to Playtime Pools and Spas and Meadows Farms Nursery.

He was sentenced Friday at U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

Two other men, Robert Williams, 34, and Santiago Ravens, 20, were also charged with arson and pleaded guilty earlier this month. Williams and Ravens are to be sentenced in September.

According to court documents, the three men broke into Meadows Farms Nursery at 14135 Jefferson Davis Highway in Woodbridge late at night on Nov. 25 to steal money.

During the burglary, the men noticed they were being recorded on a surveillance system and they then set fire to the building to destroy the evidence.

Shortly after they started that fire, in the early morning hours of Nov. 26, the men broke into Playtime Pools and Spas at 14304 Jefferson Davis Highway and stole money and checks.

Williams waited outside the business to act as a lookout, while Ravens and Potoski went inside, the court documents state.

The men then started a fire to destroy evidence of the theft.

In court documents filed last week, Potoski said that the men wanted money to buy drugs.

He said that the men "never discussed a plan to set fire to the buildings;" it was an "impulsive" decision.

Potoski, who was employed by Playtime Pools and Spas at the time, is

"extremely remorseful" about the fires, his attorney wrote in court documents.

According to their plea agreements, the three men will be required to pay a total of more than $2.87 million in restitution to the two businesses.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.