A man convicted of setting fire to a self-storage facility in Virginia Beach, Va., was sentenced to 24 years in prison, but only has to serve four years.
Joshua Hutchins was arrested and charged in connection with a fire at AAAA Self Storage on Sept. 24. Surveillance video caught Hutchins, 22, and another man, 22-year-old Dustin Hess, setting fire to several storage units.
The men cut the locks on several units at the storage facility and stole stored property, then set two units on fire. One of the units was attached to the facility manager’s apartment. The manager and her two small children escaped unharmed. Twelve units were damaged by the blaze.
Security video and pawn-shop records tied Hess to the stolen property. Hess pleaded guilty in January to four counts of burglary, three counts of grand larceny, one count of conspiracy, and one count of arson in connection with the burglary and fire.
In addition to his 10-year prison term, Hess was sentenced to indefinite supervised probation and ordered to have no contact with the victims. Hutchins will serve a total of four years and will be on supervised probation for 20 years.
Source: Wavy 10, Man Convicted of Arson Sentenced to Serve Four Years in Prison
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