BANGOR, Maine — A Prentiss Township man convicted last year of arson in the burning of a state fire marshal’s car in August 2011 was sentenced Tuesday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to seven years in prison, all of it suspended, and four years of probation.
John A. Weckerly, 59, also was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution, according to Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy.
Weckerly was found guilty of arson on Aug. 28, 2015, in his second trial.
A different jury deadlocked on Aug. 2, 2013, after hearing the same evidence. Superior Court Justice William Anderson, who presided over both trials, declared a mistrial on the arson charge more than three years ago.
Anderson allowed Weckerly to remain free on bail before and after both trials with conditions that he not return to his home in Prentiss Township and be supervised by Maine Pretrial Services.
Conditions of his probation include not possessing flammable liquids, having daily contact with the probation office and abiding by a curfew.
“The probation doesn’t require him to stay in Bangor, but live at a place approved by probation,” his attorney, Hunter Tzovarras of Bangor, said after the sentencing. “Eventually, he’d like to go back home [to Prentiss Township].”
At his sentencing, Weckerly maintained his innocence and said he would appeal the conviction, according to Tzovarras.
Weckerly was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury in April 2012 on a dozen charges — four counts of arson, five counts of criminal mischief and one count each of aggravated criminal mischief, burglary and theft by unauthorized taking. The following year, jurors found Weckerly not guilty on the 11 other charges but deadlocked on the arson charge connected to the burning of the fire marshal’s car.
A trained dog tracked the suspected arsonist from Fire Marshal Sgt. Timothy York’s destroyed car to Weckerly’s home about half a mile away, Almy said in his opening statement at the second trial.
“He had complaints [about his neighbors], and these complaints will help you understand why there was a stakeout and why all of this happened,” the prosecutor said.
York and two other fire investigators were on a midnight detail investigating three previous arsons and incidents of graffiti in the area, Almy said.
The car was set ablaze with a flammable liquid, and a bucket of gasoline was found on the roadway leading to Weckerly’s home. Gloves covered with gasoline were found hanging in his shed, the prosecutor said last year.
Defense attorney Kirk Bloomer of Bangor described Weckerly in his opening statement last year as “a loner” who “did not get along well with his neighbors.”
Bloomer, who did not represent Weckerly at the sentencing, said in his opening statement that the evidence proved the chemicals found in the burned-out car were those that make up kerosene, not gasoline. Bloomer also told jurors that Zorro, the police dog used to track the suspected arsonist, was too young and inexperienced to follow a scent as well as more experienced dogs.