ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man appeared in federal court last week and denied throwing a Molotov cocktail at a home in the Gravois Park neighborhood last year.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Marcus Reece, 31, was indicted in April on one count of damaging or destroying a building by fire and one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device.

Reece was arrested on June 22 and pleaded not guilty that same day. A federal judge ordered him to be held in jail until trial.

According to court documents, the firebombing occurred March 19, 2022, in the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue. Prosecutors claim Reece threw Molotov cocktails at his neighbor’s home following a dispute over a parking space.

If convicted, Reece faces up to five years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on the fire damaging charge, and 10 years and a $10,000 fine on the unregistered device charge.