May 09--A Flathead Valley arsonist was sentenced to prison Thursday after passionate testimony from his wife swayed a judge to impose a harsher penalty than a plea agreement recommended.
District Judge David Ortley sentenced 40-year-old David English during Flathead District Court proceedings to five years in the Montana State Prison followed by 10 years of probation.
A plea agreement had recommended five years with the Montana Department of Corrections instead of the prison, followed by five years of probation. That recommendation had been made jointly by English's attorney and the Flathead County Attorney's Office.
"I want justice," Mindy English said during the sentencing hearing. "My family needs the peace and closure."
On Aug. 27, 2013, Flathead County deputies responded to the couple's home at 1584 Trumble Creek Road to arrest him on a pair of felony warrants. When they arrived, they saw English enter the trailer home with a can of gasoline.
After refusing to come out, English yelled obscenities at the deputies and threatened to burn down the trailer before pouring gas throughout the trailer, at which point flames sprang up.
Neither Mindy nor her 17-year-old son, whom English had adopted, were home at the time. A dog was rescued from the flames but a pair of 4-month-old kittens died in the fire.
During her testimony Thursday, Mindy admitted she first tried to salvage her relationship with English, believing she could forgive him, but she eventually realized he was not going to change.
"He has no remorse. He says he admitted to pouring the gas throughout the house but not lighting the fire. He says he didn't light the fire, it was the cops," she said, later adding, "It wasn't the cops that did it."
English's attorney argued against her statement, saying English had pleaded guilty to arson, therefore admitting lighting the fire. In exchange for making that plea, misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and obstructing a peace officer were dismissed.
When asked by Deputy County Attorney Alison Howard what punishment English deserved, Mindy immediately said prison time.
"I don't think it's fair for him to walk away from burning down a home," she said.
She said the trailer sustained extensive smoke damage, all the windows were broken by the heat and that there was other damage.
Ortley ruled that English should be restricted from being granted probation until he completes chemical dependency and mental health evaluation, follows up any recommended treatment and completes psychotherapeutic treatment known as "cognitive principles and restructuring."
English was not ordered to pay any fines, fees or restitution since he still owes more than $100,000 in restitution in prior felony property crime cases. At the time of the arson, he was on probation for the pair of felony convictions and is now facing revocation hearings in Lewis and Clark and Broadwater counties.
He was given credit for more than 200 days already spent in custody.
Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at [email protected].
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