Jose Vicente Badillo, owner and operator of two San Francisco towing companies, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating an arson scheme targeting competitor tow trucks in the Bay Area. U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin issued the 60-month sentence on February 12, 2026.
Badillo, 29, was also sentenced the following day by U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson to 27 months in prison for his role in a separate conspiracy involving fraudulent auto insurance claims between at least 2017 and 2021. The sentences will run concurrently.
According to court documents, Badillo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit arson. He admitted to organizing and overseeing a plan to set fire to six tow trucks belonging to four competitors during April, July, and October of 2023. The aim was both to undermine rival businesses and seek personal revenge against their owners.
In a separate case related to insurance fraud, Badillo also pleaded guilty after being indicted by a federal grand jury in 2024. Prosecutors stated that he conspired with others to defraud automobile insurers by submitting false claims. As part of the scheme, Badillo staged an accident involving a Sterling tow truck and a vehicle carrier with four vehicles on Guadalupe Canyon Parkway in San Mateo County. He also created fake tow records for at least 18 vehicles and orchestrated additional iterations of the fraud scheme, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses for insurance companies.
United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani, and IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen announced the sentencing.
Both judges imposed three-year supervised release terms running concurrently and ordered restitution amounts that will be determined later. Badillo is scheduled to begin serving his sentence on May 21, 2026.
The prosecution falls under the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159: Protecting the American People Against Invasion. This initiative focuses on dismantling criminal organizations operating domestically and internationally through interagency cooperation among law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and IRS-CI.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas M. Parker and Galen A. Phillips prosecuted the cases with assistance from Andy Ding, Laurie Worthen, and Tina Rosenbaum following investigations by FBI and IRS-CI agents. The San Francisco Police Department provided support during the investigation.
