(KMJ) – Four Visalia residents learn their sentences for their role in sparking the 2017 Pier Fire near Springville in Tulare County.
Here is the official statement from the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office:
On August 19, 2021, the defendants pleaded to the following felonies:
Isiac Renteria, age 23 – arson of a structure or forest, 4 counts of taking a vehicle without consent.
Richard Renteria, age 25 – arson of a structure or forest, 4 counts of taking a vehicle without consent.
Osvaldo Esparza-Guerrero, age 24 – arson of a structure or forest, 3 counts of taking a vehicle without
consent.
Breane Ojeda, age 25 – arson, 2 counts of taking a vehicle without consent.
Renteria, Renteria, and Osvaldo Esparza-Guerrero were each sentenced to 8 years suspended prison with credit for 3 years actually served in custody. Ojeda was sentenced to 3 years, 4 months of suspended prison. The defendants are also ordered to pay over $40 million in restitution. A restitution hearing is scheduled for October 6th.
In the early morning hours of August 29, 2017, the defendants deliberately set fire to a stolen car to destroy it, which in turn ignited the blaze that incurred $40 million in damages and costs. The Pier Fire was declared contained on September 24, 2017.
