Ex-employee Sentenced for Arson at St. Louis Airport Hotel

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a St. Louis woman to two years in prison for igniting multiple fires in a hotel shortly after her employment there was terminated.

Ramona Cook, 26, was also placed on supervised release for three years and ordered to pay $119,067 in restitution.

Cook was a housekeeper at the Marriott St. Louis Airport until she was fired on Dec. 22, 2022. After being fired, she refused to leave until the police were called to escort her out. She later returned and set seven small fires in various locations within the hotel, beginning around 5 p.m. The hotel was evacuated, the sprinkler system was activated and the hotel suffered damages.

Cook pleaded guilty in August to a felony charge of use of a facility of interstate commerce with intent to commit a crime of violence.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen prosecuted the case.