Rapper ‘Dank Frank’ sentenced for setting fire to McMaster’s rental home near USC
The man accused of burning two rental houses owned by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster near the University of South Carolina campus pleaded guilty on Wednesday afternoon.
Before a Richland County court, 23-year-old Frank John Wilberding, also known by his rapper alias “Dank Frank,” pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree arson, four counts of first-degree assault and battery and possession of a controlled substance.
In a late afternoon hearing streamed online, Fifth Circuit prosecutor Dan Goldberg recalled the arson and said that Wilberding’s motive was settling a vendetta.
Wilberding and another man had argued over the social media app Snapchat about a woman, Goldberg told the court. In retaliation for a perceived wrong, on the morning of May 14, 2019, Wilberding went to 1716 Greene St. where he thought the man he was arguing with lived. But Wilberding was mistaken. The man he was arguing with did not live at the home, Goldberg said.
Wilberding’s mistake came with an unusual coincidence. The house he burned was a rental property belonging to McMaster, according to county records.
The house is near USC’s Gambrell building and the Russell House student union.
It seemed unclear at the time if Wilberding knew the house belonged to McMaster.
Before starting the fire, Wilberding had spent the day smoking marijuana, doing cocaine, taking Xanax and drinking alcohol, Goldberg said.
That night he went “car shopping,” Goldberg said, meaning Wilberding pulled on vehicle door handles looking for unlocked ones to steal from. At about 6 a.m. the next morning, he stepped into a side area of the house, between it and the neighboring home, and started the fire with a lighter and an aerosol can, Goldberg said.
At least 10 people were inside the house as the fire began to consume it, according to police. The fire incinerated a significant portion of the house and jumped to a house next door, which was also owned by McMaster. No one was physically hurt in the fires.
Wilberding started another fire on a table outside a home in the 1800 block of Greene Street that morning, but it didn’t take to the house, Goldberg said. Wilberding lived in the same block when he set the fire, court records showed.
The fires caused more than $500,000 in damage, Goldberg said.
Later that day, the Columbia Police Department arrested Wilberding not far from the site of the fires. Officers charged him with three counts of second-degree arson and 10 counts of first-degree assault and battery. When police arrested him, officers said Wilberding had Xanax on him and charged him with possession a controlled substance.
The second-degree arson charges were pleaded down to third-degree, and prosecutors pursued fewer of assault charges in Wilberding’s deal.
Judge George McFaddin sentenced Wilberding to essentially five years probation and required him to complete a drug and life rehabilitation program. If he violates any of the terms of his probation, Wilberding could end up serving six years in prison.
McFaddin could have sentenced Wilberding to more than 45 years in prison.
“Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future,” McFaddin told Wilberding. “You need to think about that.”
Rap
Wilberding released 27 songs as Dank Frank on the user-uploaded music site SoundCloud. Between 2017 and June 2018, he put out songs with titles such as “I Be Sellin Weed,” “Codeine & Cocaine” and “4 Loko 2 Go.”
Wilberding’s lawyer, Lori Murray, said when she met “Jack,” as he goes by, “he wanted to be famous” for being Dank Frank the rapper, not an arsonist
“He’s not an arsonist,” Murray said. “He’s a drug addict.”
Members of Wilberding’s family attended the virtual hearing from separate locations.
Murray and his family went through Wilberding’s life history at the hearing.
He is one of quadruplets but grew up in a divorced home and spent much of his time alone, Murray and his family said.
As a child and even now, Wilberding is a caring and kind person, his family said. His mother, Elizabeth, recalled that her son helped take care of his grandfather in his old age.
But as Wilberding grew older, drugs, particularly prescription Xanax abuse, took over his life, his attorney and family said.
“Now he’s come face to face with his addiction,” Wilberding’s father, Ed, said. “I believe he’s committed to getting on a productive path.”
In an interrogation after his arrest, Wilberding told police, “I would have never done this if I wasn’t high.”
Wilberding was jailed for almost two years and requested to remain in jail while awaiting his hearings because jail allowed him to be free of drugs, Murray said.
People who were in the house the night it burned were at the hearing and spoke. All said they forgave Wilberding.
“I do believe people can change,” victim Lauren Arabis said.
Wilberding cried hearing Arabis’ words.
“That doesn’t happen very often,” McFaddin said of the victims’ forgiveness.
He apologized to the victims in court and said, “the thing that I did was terrible.”
He never asked not to go to prison but said he’d like to get his GED and join the military, that he thought that would be good for him.
“I’d just like to have one more chance at life again,” Wilberding said.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 4:45 PM.