San Francisco tow company owner sentenced to 5 years in arson scheme targeting rivals

A San Francisco tow company owner has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to burn competitors’ tow trucks across the Bay Area in 2023, federal prosecutors said.

Jose Vicente Badillo, 29, was sentenced to 60 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said Badillo devised and directed a plan in 2023 to set fire to rival companies’ tow trucks to drive more business to his own firms, Auto Towing and Specialty Towing, and to retaliate against competitors for perceived wrongs.