Guilty pleas entered in eatery arson

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Three defendants in an arson that destroyed the Spice of India restaurant, 8398 Market St., on Oct. 8, 2013, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced after the Jan. 26 trial of a fourth defendant.

Christopher Reynolds, 21, of Frederick Drive, pleaded guilty to arson, and Sonia Bhatia, 24, of Carter Circle, Boardman, pleaded guilty to arson and insurance fraud Wednesday before visiting Judge Thomas J. Pokorny of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Another defendant, Jessie L. Winphrie, 23, of Woodside Avenue, pleaded guilty to arson in October.

The plea agreements of Reynolds and Winphrie say the prosecution agrees to recommend probation for them if they testify truthfully against the fourth defendant, Rajendra Ingle, 41, of Streetsboro, who is charged with arson and insurance fraud. Ingle’s trial is set for Jan. 26.

The indictment says Reynolds and Winphrie set the blaze at the Boardman restaurant, and that Bhatia and Ingle helped cause it and made false claims to defraud insurance.

The landlord, Tzarnas Family Co. LLC, which gave Ingle possession of the restaurant late in 2012, sued Ingle for purportedly failing to pay the $2,000-a-month rent for two months, while continuing to occupy the building. That civil suit is stayed pending the outcome of the criminal case.