The Hereford House arson case is in the jury’s hands now
A man with short-cropped hair leaned over the back of the bench in the public seating section of courtroom 8-D of the Charles Evans Whittaker U.S. Courthouse and whispered to the man in the seat in front of him: “I can’t help it. Every time I look at Rod Anderson, I think of Rodney Dangerfield.”
Rod Anderson — on trial with co-defendants Vincent Pisciotta and Mark Sorrentino — would have cringed if he had heard this. This last week has probably been the least funny period in his 59 years. The former high-profile public face of the Hereford House restaurants, Anderson has gained weight and looks a decade older since he was first charged with felony fraud, conspiracy and arson. The prosecution alleges that Anderson, Pisciotta and Sorrentino planned and executed the arson that destroyed the original Hereford House restaurant, at 2 East 20th Street, in the early morning hours of October 20, 2008.
Today, the defense attorneys for Anderson, Pisciotta and Sorrentino presented their closing arguments to the jury, lambasting the case against their clients presented by the team of U.S. government attorneys, including Jess Michaelson and Paul Becker. Pettlon said the government’s charges against Anderson, Pisciotta and Sorrentino was “a case about innuendo.”
