A San Jose man has pleaded guilty to federal charges of setting fire to a U.S. Post Office facility last year, prosecutors said.

Richard Tillman, 44, set fire to the Almaden Valley U.S. Post Office on Crown Boulevard in San Jose last July. Tillman was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2025 on one count of malicious destruction of government property.

Tillman admitted that he intentionally set the fire in order to “make a point to the United States government,” the U.S. Department of Justice said.

The lobby of the U.S. Post Office at 6525 Crown Blvd. in San Jose remains boarded up and unusable following an arson attack in July 2025. Black paint has been added to hide the incomplete “Viva La Me” graffiti that was scrawled onto the wall of the facility. Richard Tillman, 44, has pleaded guilty to the crime. (Nick Cheng/Google)

Tillman drove to the post office with firelogs in his car, backed it through the building’s front door, got out and spread lighter fluid throughout the vehicle, then threw a lit match on it. The blaze ignited and he exited the post office. Tillman then began spray painting the words “Viva La Me” on the outside of the building, but did not finish the graffiti because the heat from the fire was too intense. He told police that he livestreamed the event on YouTube.

The fire destroyed the lobby, making it unusable to the public ever since, according to prosecutors.

A sentence hearing for Tillman is scheduled for April 27 and he is facing between five and 20 years in federal prison.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.