EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A federal jury convicted a Granite City, Illinois, woman last week in an arson-for-hire scheme to collect insurance payouts.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois said Evette B. Osuegbu, 62, conspired with Rufis A. Jefferson, a relative, to burn properties in East St. Louis, as well as Florissant and St. Louis, Missouri.

“The pair are guilty of conspiring together to commit arson to collect fraudulent insurance benefits, and they put unsuspecting neighbors in danger for their own callous greed,” U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe said.

According to court documents, both Osuegbu and Jefferson admitted to conspiring to set Osuegbu’s St. Louis apartment on fire on Dec. 31, 2022. Osuegbu filed and received an insurance claim worth $30,000.

Jefferson also conspired with Osuegbu to torch two additional buildings in Granite City and Venice. However, an ATF confidential informant recorded many of the planning conversations, and those buildings were not burned.

Osuegbu was convicted Dec. 16 of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit arson, and one count of use of fire to commit a federal felony. She’ll be sentenced on April 23, 2025.

Jefferson pleaded guilty in January to 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit arson and one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He’ll be sentenced on Feb. 6, 2025.