A Dickerson, Md., man will spend 27 months in prison for his part in burning down an insured home near Washington, D.C., in an effort to collect insurance money.

Thomas Patrick Moriarty, 40, was sentenced to the prison time and three years of supervised supervision upon release by U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte for wire fraud in connection with the scheme, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. Moriarty will also pay $33,000 in restitution.

Moriarty and a friend involved in the contracting business co-conspired to burn down an insured house in Bethesda, Md., according to his plea agreement. That friend, identified as Louis Pisani Jr., 43, of Silver Spring, Md., purchased the house in August 2003. With another co-conspirator, who was not identified, Pisani sought to make a lucrative profit by demolishing the home, subdividing the lots and using the property for new residential construction to be re-sold.

Pisani and the unnamed co-conspirator also purchased insurance for the residence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

On March 12, 2004, after Pisani’s co-schemer prepared the house with highly flammable fuel, Moriarty set the residence on fire, causing substantial damage.

After notification of the loss, the insurance company issued checks for $50,000 and $16,900 as advance payments on the loss and for temporary housing for Pisani and his co-conspirator.

The two also concealed their involvement in the fire, provided false and misleading information, and persuaded another person to stay quiet about the blaze during an investigation by the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office, according to officials.

The insurance company never paid the balance of the claim.

Pisani pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and obstruction of an agency investigation in connection with a scheme to influence contracting at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In a separate case, he also pleaded guilty to mail fraud in the arson insurance fraud scheme. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit bribery and obstructing an agency proceeding and 20 years in prison for mail fraud.

No sentencing date has been set for Pisani.