A New Mexico man has pleaded guilty to arson and conspiracy charges in the 2010 fire that destroyed the landmark Hitching Post Inn hotel in downtown Cheyenne. 44-year old Robert Rodriguez will be sentenced in June after admitting he torched the main building of the hotel, which had been a favorite lodge and watering hole for Wyoming lawmakers for decades.

In pleading guilty Monday in Cheyenne, Rodriguez said co-defendant Ajay Jariwala, a principal in Delaware-based CJM Hospitality – the company that owned the Hitching Post – wanted to burn the building for insurance money because he couldn’t afford to complete a multi-million dollar renovation project. Rodriguez said Jariwala hired him to set the fire and left the back door open with gas cans inside.

The hotel’s insurer…National Surety Corporation…sued CJM Hospitality over the $13.6-million claim filed for the fire losses. National Surety alleges in the suit the CJM conspired in a pattern of racketeering with misrepresentations about buying the Hitch, applying for insurance, and arranging for the fire.

The suit also says Fidelity Bank of Florida, which held CJM’s mortgage for the Hitching Post should not recover any damages because it failed to cooperate with National Surety during the investigation of the fire.

CJM, in turn, sued National Surety to force payment of the claims. Both suits were put on hold late last year until the arson case against Rodriguez was settled.