KC woman admits setting house on fire for insurance

A Kansas City woman admitted Friday that she set fire to one house and plotted another fire to fraudulently collect insurance money.

Tina L. Shonk, 35, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit arson and mail fraud.

Federal prosecutors said Shonk was the leader of the arson conspiracy in which three other people are also charged.

A house that Shonk was renting in the 3500 block of Garfield Avenue burned in April 2014. She and other conspirators placed a blanket over a space heater and set the blanket on fire, according to court documents. The house was declared a total loss.

Before the fire, Shonk moved all of her personal property to a storage unit, then moved broken and damaged appliances and electronic equipment into the residence.

She then filed a $112,000 claim with her insurance company, overstating the value of her destroyed property. The owner of the house, who was not part of the scheme, received $173,000 from his insurance company.

After the fire, Shonk moved into a house in the 3800 block of Pittman Road, and once again began plotting to set it on fire to collect insurance proceeds, according to court documents.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 10:48 AM with the headline "KC woman admits setting house on fire for insurance."