EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. — Two people pleaded guilty for their part in sparking the Lake Christine Fire last July.
On Wednesday, Allison Marcus and Richard Miller pleaded to Setting Fire to Woods or Prairie. The charge is a misdemeanor.
They had been facing a felony charge of 4th-degree arson. That charge was dismissed at Wednesday's hearing.
Marcus and Miller will have to spend 45 days in jail, have five-years of supervised probation, perform 1,500 hours of useful public service, and pay $200,000 in restitution, according to a news release announcing the plea agreement.
“We think this is an appropriate sentence which in part requires extensive community service from each of these defendants,” said Assistant District Attorney Heidi McCollum in the release. “It provides the victims and this community a chance to actually see the defendants paying back the community for the damage they caused.”
The district attorney's office said Marcus and Miller will have to work eight hours per week for more than 3 1/2 years to satisfy their public service requirements.
The Lake Christine Fire destroyed three homes and burned 12,588 acres near Basalt and El Jebel. Numerous evacuations and pre-evacuation orders were issued due to the threatening fire.
The blaze was sparked when Marcus fired a tracer round at the Basalt Wildlife Area Shooting Range, according to an arrest affidavit from the Eagle County Sheriff's Office. At the time, Eagle County had Stage II fire restrictions in effect prohibiting the use of tracer rounds.
Miller and Marcus are scheduled to be sentenced July 1 at 1:30 p.m.
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