Man pleads guilty to starting fire inside Kings Plaza garage

MARINE PARK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- The man who police say started a fire at the Kings Plaza shopping center garage in Brooklyn last September pleaded guilty on Wednesday.

Avon Stephens, 23, told a federal judge that he lit a car on fire with matches as he entered his guilty plea to charges of use of fire to damage property.

Over 100 vehicles were destroyed in the 7-alarm fire, with most of them cars being stored there by a nearby dealership.

Stephens, believed to be homeless, was previously told by security not to sleep in the garage, but he later allegedly managed to break into one of the cars.

He faces at least five years in federal prison when he is sentenced on August 20.

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