Fugitive Liquor Store Owner Sentenced to Three Years

Skipped bail, fled to India

District Attorney Jan Scully announced today that Kashmir Singh was sentenced to three years in state prison. In 1995, Singh was convicted of arson in a jury trial, but was released on bond and then failed to appear for his August 1995 sentencing. While he was a fugitive, the District Attorney filed additional charges against him for the crime of failing to appear in court.
 

On October 15, 1994, Singh’s Folsom liquor store burst into flames moments after Singh had set the store’s alarm, locked the door, and left the store. Investigators determined the fire had been started inside the store with a flammable liquid and spread to the store’s roof where someone had poured additional flammable liquids.

Singh entered the United States unlawfully and testified at his jury trial that he never would have committed the arson of his liquor store because he was unwilling to commit any offense that would risk his deportation back to India. He testified that if he returned to India, he believed he would be killed for political reasons.

Singh had been released on a $200,000 bond in the arson case, and failed to appear for his sentencing hearing. Instead, he fled to India, where he lived until 2002, when he again unlawfully entered the United States. In 2003, the FBI discovered that Singh used an alias to apply for a hearing on his immigration status. Singh failed to appear for his hearing and remained at large until he surrendered to the FBI on April 2, 2009.

Deputy District Attorney Alan Hengel stated, “Thanks to the diligent efforts of former Folsom Police Department Sgt. John Landahl, Folsom Fire Department Investigator John Woo, and the determination of FBI agents Ken Cooper and Drew Parenti, justice was served with a conviction and the apprehension of Singh to serve his sentence.”