RIDGWAY — Francis Anthony “Tony” Milliard will likely spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced on Friday in the 2012 arson case that destroyed a West Main Street home.
Milliard has been sentenced in the case to a minimum of 27 years and a maximum of 57 years of incarceration in the custody of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; Milliard was also ordered to pay restitution to State Farm Insurance in the amount of $103,440.65 with no fine being imposed by the court.
However, this sentence will not begin until 2038 as Senior Judge John A. Bozza ordered that this sentence will run consecutive to Milliard’s federal sentence to illegal firearm possession and his sentence in the attempted murder of Todd Asti.
Milliard is currently incarcerated on a federal sentence, which is set to expire in December 2018.
After that sentence has expired, Milliard will begin to serve the sentence of 20 years to 40 years that he received from President Judge Richard A. Masson for being found guilty of attempted murder of Asti.
In 2038, Milliard will begin to serve his sentence of 27 years to 57 years for the arson case.
In total, Milliard will spend the next two years completing his federal sentence and then he will serve 47 to 97 years of incarceration for the arson case and the Asti case.
The earliest that Milliard could be paroled is 2065, at the age of 108.
Milliard’s sentencing followed a three-day jury trial at the end of September in which a jury of his peers found him guilty on all counts related to the 2012 arson fire at 521 W. Main Street.
On May 30, 2012, Pauline Smith called the 911 center to report that her home was on fire.
Cpl. Greg Agosti was called to the scene to conduct a fire investigation and determined that the cause of the fire was arson.
Law enforcement officials were later led to Anthony Milliard, Francis’s son.
Anthony Milliard testified at his father’s preliminary hearing that his father had ordered him to burn the home of Michelle Park. However, the son accidently set fire to the wrong home.
Anthony Milliard is currently serving a four to ten-year sentence imposed May 30, 2014 by Masson following a negotiated guilty plea.
At Francis Milliard’s trial, Anthony Milliard changed his story and testified that he acted alone and set fire to a random house on May 30, 2012.
The Commonwealth maintained at time of trial that Francis Milliard solicited and assisted his son Anthony Milliard to set a fire at the residence of Carl Park occupied by Michelle Park located at 519 West Main, but Milliard’s son mistakenly set the neighboring Smith house on fire.
Ultimately, the jury agreed with the commonwealth’s position and found Milliard guilty on a slew of charges.
The charges include arson death or bodily injury, a felony of the first degree; conspiracy to commit arson, a felony of the first degree; criminal solicitation to commit arson, a felony of the first degree; arson inhabited building or structure, a felony of the first degree; reckless burning or exploding, a felony of the third degree; criminal mischief, a felony of the third degree; criminal mischief, a misdemeanor of the second degree; and recklessly endangering another person, a misdemeanor of the second degree.
Prior to Milliard being sentenced on the arson case, he resolved his remaining two pending criminal cases in Elk County by entering a negotiated guilty plea to person not to possess, use, manufacture, sell or transfer firearm, a felony of the second degree and to possession with the intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled or counterfeit substance (marijuana).
For the firearm plea, Milliard received a sentence of five years to 10 years of incarceration, while he received a sentence of two and a half years to five years of incarceration for the drug possession charge; both of these sentences will run concurrent to the attempted criminal homicide sentence.
Elk County District Attorney, Shawn T. McMahon, represented the Commonwealth in all of Milliard’s cases as of January 2014 when he became District Attorney for Elk County.
McMahon acknowledged the courage of the victims, Todd Asti, and the family of Pauline Smith in allowing for a successful prosecution of Milliard as well as likewise the work of the Pennsylvania State Police, particularly Cpl. Greg Agosti, the Ridgway Borough Police Department, particularly Officers Shawn Geci and Bridgette Asti, the Office of Elk County Victim and Witness Services, the Ridgway Ambulance Service and the Ridgway Volunteer Fire Department.
Milliard is currently represented by Joseph D. Ryan of Brookville, having previously been represented by Jeffrey S. DuBois of DuBois and previous thereto by Michael R. Hadley of Oil City.
