Leonard Gregg -The alleged arsonist claims mental incompetence

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Firefighter accused of starting wildfire faces competency hearing

(Phoenix-AP) -- The Apache firefighter accused of setting part
of the largest wildfire in state history says he was mentally
incompetent when he lit the blaze and is unfit for trial.
Cibecue resident Leonard Gregg faces two counts of arson in U-S
District Court for setting the "Pina" and "Rodeo" fires on June
18th.
The Pina blaze scorched an acre. The Rodeo fire merged with the
"Chediski" fire to wipeout 467 homes and 470-thousand acres of
national forest and Indian land.
According to court papers filed by a public defender, Gregg
suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and has a poor capacity for
thinking.
A psychological evaluation of Gregg has been sealed. A hearing
on Gregg's mental competency is scheduled for Monday.
Gregg remains in jail without bond.
An arson conviction carries up to five years in prison and a
250-thousand dollar fine.


(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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PHOENIX (AP) - A firefighter accused of setting a wildfire that
merged with another to become the largest in Arizona history may be
incompetent to stand trial, but more mental tests are needed, a
judge ruled Monday.
Leonard Gregg was ordered sent to a federal Bureau of Prisons
hospital for a new, four-month evaluation. U.S. District Judge
James Teilborg said he had questions about a psychological report
because a team of doctors had different reasons for declaring Gregg
unfit to stand trial.
A new trial date could be set if Gregg is found competent after
his hospital stay. He was originally scheduled for trial Jan. 7.
Gregg, 29, is accused of lighting a fire on June 18 that later
merged with another. Together, the fires consumed 469,000 acres,
destroyed nearly 500 homes and forced the evacuation of about
30,000 people.
The second fire was started by a woman who had been lost in the
wilderness for two days. She set the fire to attract a television
news helicopter. Prosecutors declined to charge her, saying she had
no criminal intent.
Deborah Euler-Ajayi, Gregg's attorney, argued her client "has
many symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome, his mental functioning is
very low."
Federal prosecutors agreed that Gregg should be re-evaluated.
Gregg allegedly set fire to dry grass in hopes of earning $8 an
hour as part of a Bureau of Indian Affairs fire crew. He remains in
jail without bond.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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PHOENIX (AP) - The contract firefighter accused of starting half
of last summer's devastating eastern Arizona wildfire has been
certified as competent to stand trial by the Federal Bureau of
Prisons.
A warden from the Federal Medical Center in Butner, N.C., sent a
notarized form to the U.S. District Court of Arizona certifying
that Leonard Gregg is mentally competent to stand trial for two
counts of intentionally setting fires. The competency certification
was entered into court records last week.
A trial date has not yet been set.
Gregg, 30, of Cibecue, has spent most of this year in the
federal center.
He is accused of setting two fires last summer. One was a
short-lived one-acre blaze that was quickly snuffed. The other
became the Rodeo fire - a massive blaze that threatened Show Low,
overran two other communities and merged with the Chediski fire to
create the largest fire in state history.
In all, the Rodeo-Chediski fire charred 469,000 acres, destroyed
nearly 500 homes and forced 30,000 people to evacuate.
Gregg worked part-time on a fire crew for the Bureau of Indian
Affairs on the Fort Apache Indian reservation.
He allegedly set the fire so he could make $8 an hour fighting
it. He has also said his parents' alcoholism fueled a rage that led
him to start the fires.
Harriet Bernick, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Phoenix, said the restoration to competency process is fairly
common before trials.
"The competency issue is not necessarily a mental health
issue," she said. "It could be that (the defendant) doesn't
understand the trial or how the justice system works. Then they get
taught basically a civics lesson."
To stand trial, defendants must understand the accusations they
face and be able to assist in their own defense.
Bernick could not say whether Gregg's competency restoration
involved his mental health.
Gregg's attorney, federal public defender Deborah Euler-Ajayi,
was in trial and not available for comment Wednesday, her office
said. She has said previously that Gregg has symptoms of fetal
alcohol syndrome and is mentally unfit for trial.
Gregg had initially been scheduled to go to trial in January,
but in December, Judge James Teilborg granted a defense motion and
sent Gregg to the federal medical center for competency evaluation.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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MESA, Ariz. (AP) - Vanilla Jo Elliott, the woman who used a
lighter to start a signal fire after being lost in the mountains
for two nights, is trying to get on with her life a year later, her
attorney says.
That signal fire grew into the Chides half of the largest fire
in state history.
The other half was allegedly started by Leonard Gregg, a
part-time firefighter who prosecutors said hoped to earn extra
money by fighting the fire.
The Rodeo-Chediski fire scorched 469,000 acres in eastern
Arizona and destroyed 491 structures before it was contained.
In the year since Elliott's rise to fame, her attorney says
she's been trying to get on with her life and cope with her burden.
Gregg, meanwhile, has been undergoing evaluation at a mental
hospital and awaits trial in federal court on two counts of setting
a timber fire.
Federal prosecutors declined to charge Elliott with any crime.
Elliott, 32, has been working as a waitress, supporting her
children as a single mother and trying to get by, said Tempe
defense attorney David Cantor, who represented Elliott while
investigators pondered criminal charges against her.
"I'm sure she would have rather none of this ever happened,"
said Cantor. "I think it tore her up."

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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PHOENIX (AP) - A part-time firefighter accused of trying to make
work for himself by starting what became the biggest wildfire in
Arizona history pleaded guilty Monday.
The fire Leonard Gregg started last year combined with another
to form the Rodeo-Chediski wildfire, which destroyed hundreds of
homes and forced 30,000 people to evacuate as it burned 469,000
acres of private, Forest Service and Fort Apache Reservation land.
Gregg, who also was charged with starting a smaller fire,
pleaded guilty to two federal counts of intentionally setting a
fire. He could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in
January.
Deborah Euler-Ajayi, Gregg's attorney, said Gregg had wanted to
plead guilty for some time, but she wanted to be sure he was
mentally competent to make that decision. He had spent about six
months at a mental health facility in North Carolina.
"He wanted to get it over with, get this behind him, serve his
time and make his public apologies," she said.
Gregg, 31, is from the Fort Apache reservation community of
Cibecue. Prosecutors said he started the Rodeo fire to earn $8 an
hour fighting it. He also has said his parents' alcoholism fueled a
rage that led him to start the blaze.
Euler-Ajayi had previously argued that Gregg was not mentally
competent to stand trial, saying he suffers from fetal alcohol
syndrome.
Federal prosecutor Vincent Kirby said it was clear from the
beginning that Gregg knew what he had done. He said Gregg tried to
apologize shortly after his arrest but a federal magistrate cut him
off.
Linda Parrish of Show Low, a city that had been threatened by
the fire, said Gregg's guilty plea can bring some closure to
residents.
"He knew he did wrong. He got caught red-handed," said
Parrish, owner of the Show Low Flower Shoppe. "He finally got what
was due him."
The other half of the Rodeo-Chediski fire was set by Valinda Jo
Elliott, who had been lost in the wilderness for two days when she
set the fire to signal a helicopter. Federal prosecutors declined
to charge her, but the White Mountain Apache Tribe has filed a
civil complaint against her in tribal court.
Show Low Mayor Gene Kelley said residents generally have more
sympathy for Gregg because of his mental problems than they do for
Elliott, whose fire was closer to most of the burned homes.
"There is a tremendously greater sense of anger at the whole
system finding her not responsible," he said.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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PHOENIX (AP) - A former firefighter who admitted igniting what
became the biggest wildfire in Arizona history was sentenced Monday
to 10 years in prison.
Leonard Gregg, who told authorities he was trying to make work
for himself, pleaded guilty Oct. 20 in federal court to two counts
of intentionally setting a fire. Gregg, 31, made no plea agreement
and was given the maximum prison sentence.
He was also ordered to pay $27 million in restitution.
The fire started June 18, 2002, by Gregg, a member of the White
Mountain Apache Tribe, merged with another started by a woman who
was lost in the woods and trying to attract the attention of a
helicopter.
The fire burned 469,000 acres in eastern Arizona, destroying
hundreds of homes and forcing 30,000 people to evacuate. It also
burned sacred Apache sites and accelerated the expected demise of
the White Mountain Apache Tribe's timber business.
Gregg was a part-time firefighter with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs. He had earlier sparked a fire near Cibecue, in hopes of
being called to work, prosecutors said. When he was not called to
fight that fire, which was quickly contained, Gregg started the
second fire, prosecutors said.
He was arrested about 10 days later.
An interpreter translated the hearing into the Apache language
for Gregg, who showed no emotion.
Defense attorney Deborah Euler-Ajayi cited Gregg's remorse and
asked for leniency.
"He has cried through many of our meetings ... as well as a
meeting we had with the tribal members," Euler-Ajayi said. "His
remorse is tremendous and is very, very deep."
She also pointed out Gregg suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome
and functions at a low level emotionally and intellectually.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincent Kirby contended Gregg understood
his actions.
"When the first one failed, he set a second fire, realizing it
needed to be of greater magnitude to require more firefighters,"
he said.
Federal prosecutors did not seek charges against the woman who
set the other fire.
Margaret Baha-Walker, the only tribal member who attended the
sentencing, said she believed it was important to forgive Gregg.
"It is through healing that we will prosper again as White
Mountain Apaches," she said. "It will never be restored but the
people still walk and still have a future."

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)