Although respectful of the judge\u2019s decision, the building owner of last year\u2019s Family Dollar Store fire didn\u2019t agree that the suspect should escape without jail time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very disappointed in the sentencing,\u201d said Tom Maley. \u201cIt was a slap on the wrist.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, April 22, Chief District Court Judge Doug Walker opted not to sentence James Alexander to jail, despite a request by District Attorney Will Furse to impose a 45-day sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cForty-five days in jail would be a significant consequence,\u201d Furse argued at Tuesday\u2019s sentencing hearing. \u201cWe have to deter future acts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, the 20-year-old arsonist was ordered to 90 days of electronic home monitoring, 24 months of probation, a mental evaluation and random drug and alcohol testing.<\/p>\n
After learning of the judge\u2019s decision, Cortez Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Vandevoorde told The Cortez Journal Friday morning that he thought the sentence was \u201cdisrespectful\u201d to the city\u2019s full-time firefighters and the volunteer firefighters from Mancos, Dolores and Lewis-Arriola who responded to the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone could have easily been killed,\u201d said Vandevoorde. \u201cI think the sentence is a slap in the face to all those who risked their lives. It\u2019s an injustice that this person did not get any jail time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some 30 area firefighters responded to battle the blaze, and Vandevoorde said he is thankful none were injured.<\/p>\n
Alexander\u2019s plea deal also puts him on the hook financially. He faces more than $1.3 million in restitution. Walker granted a defense request from Durango attorney Becky Briggs for a restitution hearing. The half-day hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. on July 17.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll essentially be on probation for the rest of your life due to the amount of restitution,\u201d Walker told Alexander.<\/p>\n
Despite his disappointment regarding the lack of jail time, Maley said he was very appreciative of efforts by local firefighters who responded to the blaze, as well as the subsequent investigation by Cortez Police Department detectives and the work by Furse to prosecute the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very impressed with the professionalism of all the agencies,\u201d Maley said. Maley opted not to address the court at sentencing.<\/p>\n
Alexander also declined to comment, and allowed Briggs to speak on his behalf. She described her client as a \u201cmodel citizen,\u201d and said no one would benefit by sending him to jail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was never any maliciousness in this case,\u201d Briggs told Walker.<\/p>\n
Walker said his sentencing decision boiled down to whether Alexander was truthful in his claim that he did not act recklessly or he in fact started the fire because he has significant mental health issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither are reasons to impose jail,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n
Furse said he believed the defendant had yet to understand the consequences of his actions, adding that Alexander had done a \u201cpoor job\u201d of accepting his responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want him to man up,\u201d Furse told Walker.<\/p>\n
At a plea hearing in January, Alexander pleaded guilty to arson, but insisted he didn\u2019t commit the crime. At that hearing, Alexander read prepared written remarks, stating prosecutors had \u201cfailed to recognize the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to go to trial,\u201d he said in January.<\/p>\n
The initial plea deal was rejected, but Alexander again pleaded guilty to arson at a subsequent hearing in March. He was charged last September on a lone count of first-degree arson and two counts of fourth-degree arson. If convicted, he faced up to six years in prison.<\/p>\n
According to investigators, an unknown accelerant was used at four separate points of origin in connection to the May 14, 2013, fire at the Cortez Plaza Shopping Center on E. Main Street.<\/p>\n
Alexander reportedly was hired as an assistant manager at the Family Dollar Store about a week before the blaze.<\/p>\n