A high school senior who admitted to setting a fire that severely burned a homeless man on a New York City subway was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. Hiram Carrero, 19, pleaded guilty in March to arson charges for the incident, which occurred on December 1, 2025.
Prosecutors described the attack as a deliberate attempt to kill the sleeping homeless man, leaving him with critical injuries, permanent scarring, and disfigurement. They argued that the man's life was saved only because emergency responders reached him quickly after a short subway ride from Penn Station to Times Square. Prosecutors requested up to eight years in prison, calling Carrero's actions "heinous."
Defense attorneys sought leniency, citing Carrero's troubled past, including being born prematurely with drugs in his system and abandoned by his biological parents. They argued that his intellectual challenges and the pandemic's disruption of his education contributed to his actions. Carrero expressed "profound shame and remorse" for his crime.
The incident was part of a series of attacks involving people being set on fire on public transit across the U.S. Judge Lewis J. Liman imposed a sentence longer than the mandatory minimum for arson, reflecting the severity of the crime.