ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a convicted felon who committed two arsons in St. Louis in 2022 and was caught with two firearms during the resulting investigation to five years in prison.

Vaely Berry, now 52, threw a gasoline-filled bottle on the roof of a supermarket and grill in the 8300 block of North Broadway in St. Louis on July 15, 2022, igniting a fire that damaged the roof. The market's ceiling suffered water damage. On Dec. 8, 2022, Berry threw two gasoline-filled aluminum bottles on the roof of a liquor store in the 5900 block of Lillian Avenue in St. Louis, damaging the roof. Surveillance video captured Berry in the act.

During the investigation of the fires, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent conducting a court-approved search of Berry's home found a revolver and a shotgun. Berry is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing firearms.

Berry, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to two arson charges and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.