Stewart sentenced for Schell City fires

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Charles Stewart, of Schell City, Mo., appeared, with his attorney Eric Landoll, in the Circuit Court of Vernon County on Friday, March 19, and pleaded guilty to one class D felony charge of knowingly burning and two class A misdemeanor counts of reckless burning in connection with two incidents in Schell City last summer.

Before accepting the guilty pleas and pronouncing sentence, Presiding Circuit Judge James R. Bickel made sure Stewart was understood the contents of the plea agreement and of all his rights. Stewart answered all of the judge's questions with a polite "yes sir" or "no sir" answer.

Bickel accepted the guilty plea on all counts and the sentencing recommendations of Vernon County Prosecutor Lynn M. Ewing III. Under the plea agreement, Stewart received a suspended imposition of sentence and 5 years of probation to be supervised by the state Division of Probation and Parole for the class D felony.

The plea agreement called for a sentence of six months in the Vernon County jail for each of the class A misdemeanor counts. Both sentences were to run concurrently. Bickel suspended execution of the jail time and imposed 2 years of court supervised probation.

Special conditions were written into both the felony and misdemeanor probation requirements. As a special condition, Stewart must meet victim Sandra Hayes personally and privately and "apologize and answer her questions about the case." He must work with Hayes to complete any cleanup of the lot that is still needed.

Stewart must pay restitution to Hayes in the amount of $3,600. He must pay restitution to the Brackenridge family in the amount of $4,045 to cover the loss of the Brackenridge's trailer and its contents, which were destroyed as a result of the fire on the Hayes' property spreading to their trailer.

Stewart must "attend a service of the Methodist Church and apologize to the congregation." He must pay restitution to the Methodist Church in the amount of $11,300. The restitution must be paid at the rate of $200 per month beginning April 15, 2010.

The plea agreement also requires Stewart to "get a job and keep it" and obtain a GED. Stewart is required to perform 100 hours of community service, beginning with the clean up of the Hayes' and Brackenridge lots. And Stewart must speak to an assembly of students at NEVC about "the impact poor choices can have on your life."

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