A 25-year-old rural firefighter will plead guilty to setting a series of wildfires along Highway 200 near Thompson Falls last July, attorneys said Monday.
But the most serious of the nine charges filed against Kevin Grant -- lighting a fire on federal land -- will be dropped.
Grant has been in jail since his arrest in late July, because U.S. Magistrate Leif Erickson feared he might set more fires at the height of western Montana's wildfire season.
A lifelong resident of Sanders County and a member of the Thompson Falls Rural Fire Department, Grant initially pleaded not guilty to the arson charges.
Now he has filed a notice with the court, saying he intends to plead guilty to eight counts of "setting timber afire," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kris McLean.
In response, McLean has filed a notice saying he will drop the single count of "lighting a fire on federal land" because a survey completed last week showed the wildfire in question burned to within 7 feet of -- but did not cross to -- federal land.
That charge carried a minimum sentence of five years in jail. The other charges carry maximum penalties of five years and/or $250,000 fines.
Federal public defender Melissa Harrison said Grant was always willing to plead guilty to the less serious counts, but only if the government dismissed the most serious charge.
With his trial about to begin, Grant decided to plead guilty to counts two through nine -- but to take the disputed first count to a jury, Harrison said.
McLean's decision to drop count one came quickly thereafter.
Grant's trial was to have started Monday.
