FELIX ROUNDS JR SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS FOR MULTIPLE ARSON CHARGES

Worcester County, MD - Felix Rounds, Jr., a 38-year-old resident of Berlin, Maryland, was sentenced to 40 years in prison on June 27, 2025, after being convicted of first-degree arson, first-degree malicious burning, and reckless endangerment.

The sentencing was delivered by the Honorable Beau H. Oglesby of the Worcester County Circuit Court. Rounds will serve 15 years of active incarceration, as the remaining time was suspended.

Upon his release, he will be subject to five years of supervised probation, with a mandatory condition to complete mental health counseling for pyromania.

Additionally, Rounds has been ordered to pay over $12,000 in restitution to the victims for property damage.

The charges against Rounds stemmed from three separate incidents of intentionally set fires in northern Worcester County between November 2023 and March 2024.

Investigations conducted by the Ocean City and Worcester County Fire Marshals, alongside law enforcement agencies and fire departments, connected Rounds to all three fires.

The first incident occurred on November 21, 2023, in a house on Sinepuxent Road in Berlin, Maryland. Witnesses reported seeing smoke and fire emerging from an open front window, as well as observing an individual, later identified as Rounds, running behind the home at the time. Fire Marshal investigators determined that the fire had been intentionally started in a bedroom.

The second fire was reported in March 2024 by a cleaning crew working at an Ocean City hotel. The crew discovered fire damage in one of the rooms. Investigations revealed that Rounds had rented the room shortly before the fire and left the premises without checking out.

The third incident occurred on March 29, 2024, inside a house on Ocean Parkway in Ocean Pines, Maryland, where Rounds had been residing temporarily. Reports state that Rounds barricaded himself in a bedroom and set clothing and other items on fire.

Firefighters forced entry into the room, prompting Rounds to jump out of a window. He was subsequently apprehended by police, transported to a hospital for an emergency evaluation, and arrested upon completion of the evaluation.

Rounds was indicted by a Worcester County grand jury in May 2024 on charges related to all three fires.

Worcester County State's Attorney Kris Heiser commended the Worcester County and Ocean City Fire Marshals, as well as allied law enforcement and first responders, for their collaborative efforts in linking the incidents to the same suspect.

She also praised the dedication of her office's team of prosecutors, investigators, and support staff in preparing the case for prosecution, highlighting their attention to detail as instrumental to the conviction.