A high school senior has been sentenced to serve five years and six months in prison six months after he set a man on fire on a New York City subway.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, announced in a press release on Tuesday, June 23, that Hiram Carrero had been sentenced by Judge Lewis J. Liman after he pleaded guilty to arson on March 5.
The incident took place on December 1, 2025, when Carrero, 19, used paper to set a man on fire while he was sleeping on the subway, according to statements obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Carrero started the fire after he boarded the subway car at the 34th Street – Penn Station stop in midtown Manhattan.
After he set the fire, Carrero went to the platform and left “the victim locked inside the car to burn as the train departed,” according to the release.
Prosecutors claimed that Carrero wanted to kill “a sleeping, homeless man by burning him alive and leaving him trapped on a moving subway car,” according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press.
Surveillance footage from inside the subway car also captured the incident, which showed the victim’s legs becoming engulfed in flames.
The victim was still covered in flames when he managed to get off of the subway car at the Times Square station and sat on a platform, according to ABC7. First responders arrived at the scene soon after and the victim was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
Prosecutors credited emergency responders for saving the man’s life, adding that it was a “mercifully short trip” from Penn Station to Times Square, according to the Associated Press.
While the victim survived, prosecutors said that Carrero’s “heinous actions” left him with permanent extensive scarring and disfigurement.
“Setting fire to another person is a breathtaking, horrific and unconscionable crime,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement shared in the press release. “Thanks to first responders and the women and men of the NYPD and the FDNY, the victim’s life was saved, and a horrific tragedy was averted.”
Clayton added that “subway safety is front of mind for our office, the NYPD, and our federal partners.”
“Today’s sentence demonstrates that anyone who terrorizes New Yorkers on the subway or anywhere else will face swift justice,” he added.
Once Carrero completes his time in prison, he will have to serve three years of supervised release and has been ordered to pay restitution.
In court papers, Carrero’s defense lawyer, Jennifer Brown, explained that the defendant had a challenging past and was born prematurely with drugs in his system. Carrero was also abandoned by his biological parents at the time of his birth.
“Words are inadequate to express the profound shame and remorse that Hiram feels,” Brown said of the defendant, according to NBC.
