Mineola resident Daniel Araujo, 23, has pleaded guilty to two counts of Arson in the Third Degree. The plea may come as a surprise to many readers of the Mineola American which ran an article in its Aug. 6 edition entitled, "Outraged Father Proclaims Son's Innocence," where Araujo stated that he was not guilty and did not know who was.

Araujo was charged with a May 27, 1997 arson in which a 1981 Oldsmobile was burned on Horton Highway in Mineola. At the time it was the sixth in a line of car fires and one garage fire that fit a particular MO. Araujo's own 1981 Toyota Corolla was burned as well.

Araujo was arrested on July 14, 1997 sitting at a bus stop on his way home from work as a plumber and was incarcerated in East Meadow.

"I was there for two days for something I did not do," Araujo told the Mineola American back in early August.

Araujo and his father Fernando spoke to the newspaper proclaiming Daniel's innocence and even offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the responsible perpetrator.

After both the first arrest and the interview, Araujo was indicted for the first crime on Oct. 20.

Following that there was a second arson, that of 1989 Toyota on Washington Avenue around 1:20 a.m. on Dec. 30, 1997. Araujo was arrested the following Feb. 24 and indicted on April 16.

According to Assistant District Attorney Christopher Devane the MO of each of the two arsons was the same, a cigarette ignited the combustibles that had been placed in the rear hatchback of the car.

In a creative show of detective work the investigators collected the cigarette used in the Dec. 30 arson, as well as a cigarette Araujo smoked during his interview with the police in an Oceanside police booth and a third cigarette Arujo dropped at a bus stop after his interview with the police.

The evidence was shipped to Labcorps in North Carolina where DNA testing proved that the DNA on all three cigarettes matched.

"I think that was our strongest piece of evidence in both cases," remarked Devane, "In a lot of arson trials we go to court with a lot less evidence."

Attorney Andrew Gutman, who represented Araujo, did not return repeated phone calls requesting comment on the trial.

In the sentencing, which is set to take place on Sept. 10, Araujo faces 15 years in prison. Working against him is the fact that he was responsible for another arson while he was out on bail and had been indicted for the first one. Working in his favor according to Devane is that though he is suspected of being involved in a series of arsons, the fact is that he has never before been convicted of any crime.