Thursday, December 26, 2024

Willits Arsonist Sentenced to Four Years in Prison and Ordered to Pay Nearly $250K

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The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office:


Amy Joallen Holland [Mugshot from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Booking Logs]

Criminal defendant Amy Joallen Holland, age 35, of Willits, was sentenced Tuesday afternoon in the Mendocino County Superior Court to serve four years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), said defendant having been convicted by plea of the willful and malicious arson of uninhabited structures and grass lands.

As a part of Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, the Court heard testimony and received other evidence from one of the victims relating to the Bart Fire, an arson-initiated fire that burned approximately ten acres on July 29, 2021 near the Walker Lake subdivision off Black Bart Road south of Willits.

In regards to the one victim who appeared Tuesday to testify as to her losses, the fire consumed two small outbuildings and their contents, which included inventory and supplies for that victim’s home-based pottery business.

The defendant was ordered at the conclusion of the restitution hearing to pay the testifying victim and her insurance company $248,890.06, at the legal rate of interest – ten percent per annum uncompounded – on any unpaid balance.

Additional restitution was reserved as to two additional victims who were not present, as well as Cal Fire for the state’s expenses associated with the fire suppression efforts, which are expected to be significant.

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The law enforcement agencies that investigated this crime were the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department and Cal Fire.

The prosecutor who obtained the arson conviction and represented the People at Tuesday’s sentencing and restitution hearings was Assistant District Attorney Dale P. Trigg.
The judicial officer who presided over this case was Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder.

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MendoFever Staff
MendoFever Staff
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