A man entered mental health court on Wednesday after admitting to setting a fire outside the Jewish Museum of Maryland in what Baltimore Police previously described as a hate crime.

Assadollah Hashemi, 66, of Reservoir Hill, pleaded guilty in Baltimore Circuit Court to setting a fire and damaging a religious building. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but will only serve the time he’s already spent in custody.

After his release, Hashemi will be on supervised probation for five years. He must follow a mental health treatment plan and report to the court and a probation agent.

Hashemi said he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He said he was also abusing drugs.

“I was out of my mind, because I was under the influence of cocaine,” Hashemi said. “I wasn’t thinking. I accept everything.”

The Baltimore City Fire Department was called at about 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 4, 2024, to put out a fire outside the museum, which is on Lloyd Street in Jonestown.

A K-9 named Blondie detected the “presence of vapors of an ignitable liquid.” Law enforcement looked at surveillance video, which showed a man get out of his car, put something on the ground, pour a liquid on the object and set it on fire.

Detectives checked license plate readers in the area and located the car on the corner of Greenmount Avenue and East Eager Street in Johnston Square. Hashemi owned the vehicle and matched the description of the perpetrator.

Officers had recently interacted with Hashemi when he was experiencing a behavioral health crisis during which he set a trash can on the balcony of his apartment on fire.

Police later executed a search-and-seizure warrant. Hashemi waived his Miranda rights and told investigators that he knew they were there because of a fire outside a synagogue, Assistant State’s Attorney Tracy Varda said.

Less than 30 minutes before he set the fire, Hashemi, she said, sent a text message that read, “If you don’t get back to me, I’m going to have all Jews burned in the furnace.”

“I have an objection to that — I never said that or wrote it anywhere,” Hashemi said. “That’s a lie.”

Later, Hashemi said, “I didn’t know what I was doing. I was crazy.”

Assistant Public Defender Sharon Bogins Eberhart then privately discussed with Hashemi the option of pleading not criminally responsible before the hearing picked back up.

“We’re grateful nobody was harmed, and there was minimal damage to the museum campus,” said Sol Davis, executive director of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, in an interview. “We hope that this individual can receive the mental health care that he needs.”

As a condition of his probation, Hashemi must stay away from the museum.

“All right, sir. You don’t go anywhere near the Jewish Museum,” Circuit Judge Gale E. Rasin said. “Is that clear?”

Hashemi responded that he understood.