Wisconsin Bar Owner Gets 7 Years for Arson

A federal judge has sentenced a Hayward, Wis., man to seven years in prison for burning down his bar and collecting more than $250,000 in fraudulent insurance money.

A jury found 40-year-old Philip Lathrop guilty in March of one count of arson and four counts of mail fraud.

Federal prosecutors in Madison say Lathrop owned Player’s Sports Bar and Grill in Hayward. They say he hired Dave Maki to burn the bar down in August 2003 in exchange for $5,000 and cocaine. According to online court records, Maki was sentenced to three years probation in May in after he pleaded no contest to a state arson charge.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb also ordered Lathrop to pay $253,000 in restitution and serve three years on supervised release.