U.S. District Judge Sim Lake sentenced Lyndell Price to 105 months in the Bar 5015 arson conspiracy.

The term that matters is the one in the judgment, and the desks do not print the same one. FOX 26 Houston's court records say 105 months, ABC13 says 102 months, KPRC says 8 years, and the Houston Chronicle says nine years. A guilty plea to conspiracy to commit arson is a conviction on that count, and the remaining counts FOX 26 and KPRC say were dropped are not a second verdict on the fire. The Instagram statement FOX 26 quoted, that he pleaded guilty not because this is something he has done, is not the apology the Chronicle reported from the courtroom.

FOX 26 Houston reported Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, that documents from the U.S. District Court sentenced former Turkey Leg Hut co-owner Lyndell Price to 105 months, which that story called eight years and nine months, in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The station said the records come from the clerk of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and it did not print the judge's name. KPRC reported that U.S. District Judge Sim Lake sentenced Lyndell "Lynn" Price to 8 years in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. The Houston Chronicle, in the copy Yahoo News published, reported that District Judge Sim Lake sentenced him to nine years. ABC13 reported a judge sentenced him to 102 months, three years of supervised release, and an anger management program, and that story did not print the judge's name. One hundred five months is eight years and nine months. One hundred two months is eight years and six months. Eight years is 96 months. Nine years is 108 months. Those are not the same term. FOX 26's headline called him a co-owner, and a later sentence in that story called him a former owner. KPRC's caption called him a co-owner, and its sentence called him the former owner. The Chronicle's Friday story called him a co-founder. Those are not the same title.

The plea those desks describe is not one month. FOX 26 reported the sentence follows a guilty plea in July to conspiring to commit arson of a commercial building, and that prosecutors said he admitted directing people to set fire to Bar 5015 on Almeda Road in June 2020. The same story reported that, according to federal prosecutors, a former owner of Turkey Leg Hut admitted hiring arsonists to burn down a bar six years ago. Hiring arsonists, and directing people to set the fire, are not the same verb. KPRC reported he pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit arson, that he was the third of five defendants charged in the case to admit guilt, and that under the plea agreement the remaining counts were dismissed at Friday's sentencing. KPRC reported he admitted he directed a Turkey Leg Hut employee to assemble a crew to set fire to the nightclub, and that the crew brought gasoline and intentionally started the fire. ABC13 reported he entered a guilty plea in June, admitting his role in coordinating the fire, and that he initially pleaded not guilty last year and changed his plea earlier this year. The Chronicle reported he pleaded guilty in June. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, in a release dated Thursday, June 11, 2026, said Lyndell Leroy Price, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit arson of a commercial building, that U.S. District Judge Lake accepted the plea, and that sentencing was set for Sept. 25. June 11 is not July. Sept. 25 is not Oct. 30. The Chronicle printed his age as 44. Forty-two, in the June 11 release, and 44, in the Chronicle, are not the same age. FOX 26 reported his other charges in connection with the fire have been dropped, that four other people have also pleaded guilty to the same charge and will be sentenced later, and, in the same story, that he was one of three people arrested for the explosion in April 2025 and that two other people have since pleaded guilty. Four other guilty pleas, and two other guilty pleas, are not the same count. KPRC's third of five is not ABC13's report that federal officials charged four people. ABC13 reported Miziah Shepherd pleaded guilty in 2025 and admitted helping plan and carry out the attack. The June 11 release said Armani Williams and Miziah Shepherd, both 27 and of Houston, had previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. A release that names two earlier pleas is not a story that says four other people have pleaded.

What the fire was, and what the bar is called, are not one sentence. FOX 26 reported Bar 5015 on Almeda Road exploded in June 2020, that a fire caused the explosion of a bar that had recently been renovated, that a boom around 4:45 a.m. frightened neighbors, and that no injuries were reported. Its brief called it a Third Ward bar. KPRC reported a massive explosion at Bar 5015 along Almeda Road near the Museum District, that the fire damaged the nightclub and a nearby food truck, and that prosecutors estimated the damage at about $750,000. ABC13 reported the fire destroyed a portion of Bar 5015 in the Museum District and sent debris flying hundreds of feet, and that investigators said surveillance video captured several individuals carrying 5-gallon containers, pouring gasoline onto a wooden deck outside the entrance, and one of them igniting it. The Chronicle printed a fire at Bar 2015, a restaurant less than 200 yards from the now-closed Turkey Leg Hut near the Museum District, and the photograph caption in that story printed Houston firefighters in the debris at Bar 5015 on Friday, June 12, 2020. Bar 2015 and Bar 5015 are not the same name. A restaurant, a bar, and a nightclub are not the same word. Third Ward and the Museum District are not the same neighborhood name. The June 11 release said that in the early morning of June 12, 2020, the conspirators bought gasoline and gas cans, and that, wearing face coverings and carrying gasoline-filled containers, they poured gasoline across the entrance ramp and deck, ignited it, and fled. An entrance ramp and deck, and a wooden deck outside the entrance, are not the same description. The release said a member of the conspiracy then reported to Price that the mission was complete and that the conspirators received payment. It said that at sentencing he faced up to 20 years and a possible $250,000 fine. The Friday stories used here did not print a fine. The Chronicle reported he had faced up to 20 years, that he asked the judge to consider a five-year sentence, and that prosecutors asked for the maximum. Five years, 105 months, and a maximum of 20 years are not the same number. The June 11 release said the bar was a business his former partner owned, that shortly before the fire the owner had declined Price's offer to buy into the bar, and that the owner had refused to sell his interest in the Turkey Leg Hut, which he co-owned with Price. The release does not print the name Steve Rogers. The Chronicle's June plea story named Bar 5015's owner as Steve Rogers, a former Turkey Leg Hut partner, and said that was according to the Justice Department. ABC13's sentencing story said the owner of Bar 5015 was also a business partner of Price in Turkey Leg Hut, and it did not print Rogers's name.

What he said about the plea is not one statement. FOX 26 reported that on Friday he issued a statement through the Instagram account of his Oyster Hut business. The station said the statement reads, in part, "I've accepted a guilty plea not because this is something I've done but because I know that my purpose is greater than being behind these walls. Every guilty person isn't guilty and every innocent person isn't innocent. For the sake of my family and loved ones, I decided against battling the unknown." The Chronicle reported he apologized in court before he was sentenced. It quoted him: "I am truly sorry." It quoted him again: "I am not asking the court to excuse my conduct or place blame on anyone else. Having done good gave me every reason to know better and to make better decisions." ABC13 reported he recited a speech saying he accepted full responsibility for the fire and showed no emotion during sentencing. It reported he said, "Love you, thank you," and, in the station's words, "as we walked out of the courtroom." A statement that he pleaded guilty not because this is something he has done, a speech accepting full responsibility, and an apology that asks the court not to excuse the conduct are not the same statement. The Chronicle quoted assistant U.S. Attorney Sebastian Edwards: "In order to get the world to bend to his will, he's willing to use fear and intimidation. And fire is the tool of the trade," and, "When the world doesn't bend to his will, he uses fire. He uses violence, and he uses intimidation." The June 11 release named Edwards and Keri Fuller as the prosecutors. ABC13 reported prosecutors said he had an unchecked ego and needed the world to bend to his will, that the fire was the result when the owner of Bar 5015 did not bend, and that the government said he is covered in flame tattoos as if to "tell the world this is the tool of my trade." Tool of the trade, and tool of my trade, are not the same words. ABC13 reported he was apparently sanctioned six times while locked up in this case. The Chronicle reported prosecutors pointed to a long history of arrests, including at least one other charge for arson, in asking for the maximum. A prosecutor's argument about other arrests is not Friday's judgment. Friday's term is the sentence on the conspiracy count he admitted. The outlets do not print the same number of months. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.