He worked quickly, using a blue marker to make his tag – a stylized script that read “Mower.” It took about 15 seconds, according to a video released by prosecutors.

The unwelcome artwork was created by Jordan Quimayousie, 34, who prosecutors said decorated garbage cans, fire hydrants and sidewalks in Phoenix more than 750 times during a 22-month span.

On July 30, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, after pleading guilty to a felony count of criminal damage, according to a news release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

Quimayousie’s plea deal, reached in court June 13, also settled a related case that involved a felony charge of possessing narcotic drugs, according to court records. He was sentenced to probation for the drug case, court records said.

Besides the prison time, Quimayousie was ordered to pay the city of Phoenix more than $58,000 as restitution for its cost to clean up his handiwork, the release said. He was also ordered to pay more than $4,000 to cover the damage to an apartment building, according to the release.

Between January 2023 and October 2024, Quimayousie made his mark more than 750 times in Phoenix, prosecutors said. The marks appeared on apartment complexes, school buildings and churches, the release said.

Quimayousie created one or more monikers or “tags,” in street lingo, according to the indictment filed against him. “MOWER,” “KSK,” “KS,” “FIBER” and “FYBER” were some of the tags, the indictment said.

Quimayousie was charged with two specific acts of vandalism, according to the indictment.

One was the February 2024 defacing of Phoenix Christian Preparatory School near 17th Avenue and Indian School Road, according to his indictment. Another was the September 2024, damage to a church at 17th Avenue and Camelback Road, the indictment said.

Because the buildings damaged were a church and a school, those incidents were charged as aggravated felonies, according to the indictment.

Quimayousie pleaded guilty to a single county of criminal damage that covered multiple tagging incidents at an apartment complex and property belong to the city of Phoenix, the release said.

The attorney who represented Quimayousie did not return a request for comment July 31.

The serial tagging came to light during a community meeting attended by a prosecutor with the Attorney’s Office, the release said. Residents said the tags were appearing faster than the city could erase them, according to the release.

The case “highlights the power of a community working together to make our neighborhoods better,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement in the release.

Included with the news release was a video of Quimayousie marking a city of Phoenix trash can. The video, believed to be shot by Quimayousie himself, showed him drawing a circle then an “M,” leading off the word “Mower.” He added some flourishes to the name, including a star at the end, the video showed.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office did not immediately return a question regarding how that video came to be in possession of authorities.

Quimayousie was convicted in February 2016 for aggravated assault on a police officer, according to court records. He was previously convicted of aggravated DUI in October 2012, records said.

In this most recent case, Quimayousie asked the judge in March to allow him to change the attorney appointed to represent him, according to court records. The judge denied that motion, records said.

On June 12, the judge in the case filed an order that asked the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to bring Quimayousie into court for the next day’s settlement hearing “using any means necessary to include force.” The order said the judge was doing so at request of “counsel.” The order didn’t specify whether the request came from prosecutors or  Quimayousie’s attorney nor did it state a reason.

Quimayousie appeared in court the next day and decided to plead guilty to the criminal damage and drug charges, according to records.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Graffiti artist gets 4.5 years after tagging Phoenix church, school