Danielle Bertothy Arson Case: Charge, Plea, and Sentence

The Danielle Bertothy arson case ended on November 3, 2025, when a federal judge in Puerto Rico sentenced the Missouri woman to five years in prison for setting fire to a commercial building in Cabo Rojo after being twice kicked out of a bar there. The blaze damaged four businesses, forced the evacuation of about 50 hotel guests sleeping on the second floor, and caused roughly $500,000 in damage. Bertothy later pleaded guilty to a single federal arson count and was ordered to pay $311,096.07 in restitution.

What Happened at Combate Beach

On New Year’s Day 2024, Bertothy, then 36 and vacationing from St. Peters, Missouri, was at Bar Marea Restaurant at Combate Beach in Cabo Rojo. According to a Facebook post by the restaurant, she appeared intoxicated, harassed patrons, and assaulted a server and a customer. Police escorted her back to her Airbnb twice.¹

Early on January 2, 2025, she came back. Puerto Rico was in the middle of an island-wide blackout, and her Airbnb host had given her a gasoline container to refuel a generator. Surveillance video showed her pouring liquid from that container outside the bar, and a fire erupted.²

The flames spread through a commercial building at Road 3301 KM 2.9, damaging Bar Marea Restaurant, Marinera Restaurant, the craft shop Artesanías Juavia, and Luichy’s Seaside Hotel. Roughly 50 guests were evacuated from second-floor rooms where people had been sleeping. No one was killed or injured. Building owner Ángel Luis Marrero Negrón estimated the total damage at $500,000.¹

Cabo Rojo Mayor Jorge Morales Wiscovitch said security footage from one of the businesses showed Bertothy was the same person who had been causing problems the night before, and that she was picked up in a white car shortly after the fire. “It wasn’t just businesses that were burned,” he said. “There were rooms on the second floor where people were sleeping. People could have been burned and killed.”¹

Investigation and Federal Charge

Bertothy had booked the Airbnb through January 11 but abruptly left the day of the fire.² Videos and photos of the incident spread quickly on social media, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives opened an investigation with help from its St. Louis field office.¹

On January 16, 2025, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico indicted Bertothy on one count of using fire to destroy a building affecting interstate commerce under 18 U.S.C. § 844(i).³⁴⁵

The Guilty Plea

On July 22, 2025, Bertothy pleaded guilty to one felony count of arson in federal court in San Juan. She admitted that after being ordered to leave the bar twice on New Year’s Day, she returned early the next morning and poured gasoline on the building.⁶ Under the plea agreement, both prosecutors and defense counsel agreed to recommend the five-year mandatory minimum, the lowest sentence the law allowed. Her attorney, Justin Gelfand, said it was Bertothy’s “first and only criminal conviction ever.”²

The Sentence

U.S. District Judge Gina R. Mendez-Miro sentenced Bertothy on November 3, 2025, to five years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. The court also ordered restitution, with the exact figure to be set within three months.⁷

On March 23, 2026, Judge Mendez-Miro issued an amended judgment ordering Bertothy to pay $311,096.07 in restitution under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act. The payment was directed to the building owner, identified in court records by his initials as A.M.N.⁸

After the hearing, Gelfand said, “We were pleased the court imposed the lowest sentence allowed by law. Danielle looks forward to putting this behind her.”⁷

Aftermath

All four affected businesses have reportedly reopened. Marrero Negrón, who attended the sentencing, said he had forgiven Bertothy. “I don’t have anything else in my heart. I’m calm and ready to move on,” he said. “If she truly is remorseful, my apology is another point for her to keep moving forward and rectify her life and never do what she did ever again.”⁷

1
NBC News. Tourist Puerto Rico Fire Businesses ATF Police Investigate
2
KCUR. Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty to Torching Puerto Rico Bar After Getting Kicked Out
3
U.S. Department of Justice. Missouri Woman Arrested and Indicted for Arson
4
GovInfo. 18 U.S.C. § 844
5
CourtListener. United States v. Bertothy
6
St. Louis Public Radio. St. Peters Woman Pleads Guilty Arson Puerto Rico Danielle Bertothy
7
St. Louis Public Radio. St. Peters Woman Gets 5 Years in Prison for Torching Businesses in Puerto Rico
8
PACER Monitor. USA v. Bertothy