A federal judge has sentenced a New York City high school senior to 5 1/2 years in prison for setting a fire that severely burned a homeless man on a subway train. Hiram Carrero, 19, pleaded guilty in March to arson.
Judge Lewis J. Liman imposed the sentence Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, exceeding the mandatory minimum for the charge. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of up to eight years, arguing that Carrero's actions on Dec. 1, 2025, were heinous and left the victim with critical injuries, extensive scarring, and disfigurement. Carrero admitted to igniting a piece of paper, intentionally harming the man who was sleeping at the time.
In court filings, prosecutors stated Carrero attempted to kill the man by burning him alive while trapped on a moving subway car. They asserted that the victim's survival was due to the swift response of emergency personnel after the train's short journey from Penn Station to Times Square. The prosecution emphasized that the incident was