The former Turkey Leg Hut owner is headed to federal prison. Lyndell “Lynn” Price, once the face of one of Houston’s most popular restaurants, was sentenced Friday for directing the 2020 arson of a Third Ward bar owned by his former business partner.
Price was handed more than eight years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. According to ABC13 Houston, the judge imposed 102 months, which comes to roughly eight and a half years behind bars. The outlet also reports the sentence includes an anger management program.
Price pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to commit arson of Bar 5015, admitting he directed others to set the business on fire in June 2020. According to the Chron, he acted after the bar’s owner rejected his offer to buy into the venue and refused to sell his interest in the Turkey Leg Hut, which Price co-owned with his estranged wife at the time. BOSSIP previously reported that the bar’s owner was Steven Rogers, Price’s one-time business partner, who alleged that Price threatened to “blow the place up” because he saw the new spot as competition. Price’s defense had pushed back on that account early in the case, with his attorney asking why Price would single out one business if he was motivated to burn down competition.
Prosecutors said the plot played out like an arson-for-hire scheme. Four men bought gasoline and gas cans, covered their faces and walked to Bar 5015 in the early morning hours of June 12, 2020. They poured gasoline across the entrance ramp and deck, lit it, and fled, per Chron. ABC13 Houston reports surveillance video captured the group carrying 5-gallon containers to the bar before an explosion sent debris flying hundreds of feet. Prosecutors say Price paid the men afterward.
Prosecutors Say Turkey Leg Hut Owner Has An Unchecked Ego
No one was hurt, and the bar reopened weeks later. Still, federal prosecutors said the fire caused significant damage and put nearby homes, businesses and the electrical grid at risk. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake said Price directed the arson “without any regard for the safety” of nearby residents or the damage it could cause to neighboring businesses. The judge also said Price’s lack of respect for the law called for a high sentence to deter future crimes and protect the community.
Federal prosecutors described Price in blunt terms at sentencing. They said he had “an unchecked ego and needed the world to bend to his will,” and that the fire was the result when the bar’s owner would not. They also noted he had been sanctioned six times while locked up in connection with the case. Price reportedly showed no emotion in court, and as he left, he said, “Love you, thank you.”
The case took years to come together. Speculation about Price’s involvement surfaced soon after surveillance footage was released in 2020, but no charges were filed for nearly five years. He was arrested in 2025 and initially pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors argued at the time that he was a danger to the community, presenting threatening text messages allegedly sent to Rogers and Turkey Leg Hut employees. After his guilty plea, he now faces the consequences.
The downfall is a stark turn for a business that once had Houston buzzing. Price and his then-wife Nakia Holmes opened the Turkey Leg Hut in 2017, and the Third Ward restaurant quickly became one of the city’s top food destinations, drawing celebrities including Drake, James Harden and Snoop Dogg. It also made headlines in 2021 over a viral dress code controversy. The restaurant closed in 2024 after filing for bankruptcy.
