Former St. Louis Marriott Employee Sentenced to Two Years for Arson at Airport Hotel

After being fired from her position as housekeeper, a former hotel employee caused fires at the Marriott St. Louis Airport, earning her a two-year prison sentence. Ramona Cook, 26, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $119,067 in restitution for the damages she caused, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Missouri.

The actions in question took place on December 22, 2022, when Cook started several fires on the hotel grounds after her job ended. The ensuing fire led to the property being evacuated, the sprinkler system being turned on, and resulting financial damages. When Cook was fired, she first refused to leave the hotel until the police had to step in and get her to leave. She returned later that night, at approximately five o’clock, and started fires in various parts of the hotel.

To a felony charge in August, Cook entered a guilty plea to the charge of “use of a facility of interstate commerce with intent to commit a crime of violence.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen was the prosecutor in the case, which was under the investigation of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The sentencing was delivered on Friday by U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk.

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