MESA, AZ — A Mesa man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for setting fire to a Tesla dealership and destroying a Cybertruck in April 2025.
Ian William Moses, 35, will serve 60 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release for the April 28, 2025, arson at a Tesla dealership in Mesa.
Moses pleaded guilty in October to five federal charges of maliciously damaging property and vehicles by means of fire.
A restitution hearing is scheduled for April 13.
"Arson can never be an acceptable part of American politics," U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said.
"This five-year sentence reflects the gravity of these crimes and makes clear that politically fueled attacks on Arizona's communities and businesses will be met with full accountability," Courchaine said.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell called the arson an act of political violence rather than a protest.
"Setting fire to a business in retaliation for political or personal grievances is not protest — it is a crime," Mitchell said.
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According to the Department of Justice, surveillance cameras captured Moses at the Tesla dealership shortly before 2 a.m., wearing a black mask while carrying a red plastic gas can and a black backpack.
Video showed Moses placing fire starter logs next to the dealership building before pouring gasoline on the logs, building, and three Tesla vehicles.
The DOJ says he ignited the starter logs before leaving the scene.
Mesa police arrested Moses about a quarter mile from the dealership around 3 a.m. He was still wearing the same clothes seen in the surveillance footage. Officers found a hand-drawn map of the area in his pocket with a box marked "T" indicating the dealership's location, according to the DOJ.
The investigation involved the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the FBI Phoenix Field Office, the Mesa Police Department, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona.
