Dec. 10--Prosecutors are seeking $120,000 restitution from a convicted arsonist for the victims of fires set earlier this year by a volunteer firefighter.
Brett Graham, 19, a former member of the Kelley Volunteer Fire Department, was sentenced Dec. 2 to 10 years in prison for two counts of second-degree arson.
Graham was convicted of a Jan. 17 fire at Cyclone Golf Performance Center, on U.S. Highway 69 south of Ames, and a Feb. 14 fire at a recreational climbing facility near Kelley.
Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown said the parties "couldn't quite agree on the restitution amounts" at the sentencing hearing, so Judge Timothy Finn gave him five days to put together restitution amounts.
Brown submitted a victim damages statement Dec. 6 seeking $120,308.50 restitution for the victims of the two fires.
Included in the damages statement is $5,000 to The Jensen Group, which owned the building of Cyclone Performance Golf at the time of the fire.
The $5,000 is the insurance deductible The Jensen Group had to pay out of pocket, Brown said.
The remainder of the restitution is for the climbing gym fire, including $98,271 for a lost barn and corn crib to Duane and Norine Black, who owned the property where the climbing gym was located.
"The barn was not insured," Brown said. "We're trying to determine the fair market value of the barn."
Brown said the amount they decided on is the insured value of the barn per square foot.
Ward Black, the son of Duane and Norine Black, operated B &B Mountaineering in the barn, and is seeking $3,500 for loss of business. According to Brown, Ward Black had a contract with Richard Honzatko to run the climbing business.
Honzatko paid $500 a month to Ward Black to lease the property, Brown said.
"There were seven months left in the lease contract when the fire destroyed the building," Brown said, creating the $3,500 loss of rent.
Honzatko is also seeking $13,537.50 for loss of equipment, ropes and shoes, according to Brown.
Graham has until Jan. 8, 2014 to file an objection to the restitution amounts. If no objection is filed, the amount submitted by Brown is what Graham will be required to pay.
While Graham also agreed to pay restitution for an Oct. 5 fire at the Uthe Party Barn on 520th Street south of Kelley, Brown said the owner of the barn has not submitted a restitution amount. The charges for this fire were dropped as part of a plea agreement reached between Graham and the prosecution in October.
"We can go back and ask for restitution, Graham agreed to pay it, but we never heard from the owner," Brown said.
Graham was sentenced to 10 years in prison for each count of second-degree arson. Judge Finn ordered that the two sentences may run together, but must be served after the 10 year sentence Graham is already serving for an arson conviction in Boone County.
Graham was convicted of one count of second-degree arson in Boone County in June for a fire that killed 12 horses in a barn southwest of Ames. Graham was also ordered to pay $27,000 restitution to the horses' owner.
Copyright 2013 - Ames Tribune, Iowa
