Christopher Clark, who pleaded guilty in November to starting fires on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in Montana, was sentenced on Thursday to two years of probation and ordered to pay $1,111 in restitution. Here’s more from the Missoulian:
…Christopher Clark, 26, of Dillon, had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of damage to government property in connection with the October 2009 incidents.
According to information from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Clark was a temporary employee with the Forest Service in October 2009. On Oct. 17, 2009, Clark, Kyle Zimmerman, 23, and Shildes Kellum, 23, were in a forested area on Black Mountain, which is part of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, and the three men were attempting to start fires in trees that had been killed by the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
They weren’t successful, but the next day Clark and Zimmerman returned to the forest and lit trees on fire in the Birch Creek area. The fire grew to about one-tenth of an acre, with Clark being involved in the suppression effort, court documents state.
Officials investigating the fires were led to Zimmerman because of some distinctive tire tracks left at the scene, as well as a metal decal from a “Tuff Country” vehicle suspension lift kit. When interviewed initially in November 2009, he acknowledged setting some fires, but didn’t admit until being interviewed in March 2010 that Clark and Kellum were with him.
While Kellum also confessed to his involvement when interviewed, Clark said he had no part in the fire. However, his ex-girlfriend told federal investigators that on one occasion, Clark admitted that he, Zimmerman and Kellum set trees on fire in the Black Mountain area, although he later denied it to her. Kellum also said Clark and Zimmerman were trying to light fires, and that Clark tried to convince him to start additional fires in the Birch Creek area and in another area known as the East Ridge.
All three of the men have pleaded guilty to damaging government property. Zimmerman was sentenced on Dec. 14, 2010, to one year of unsupervised probation and $500 in restitution. Kellum, who is incarcerated in the state prison for forgery and escape, is slated to be sentenced March 2.
Thanks Dick
