Leesville Man Sentenced to 1 Year Prison for Starting Forest Fires

Posted: Sep 3, 2010 10:46 AM by Melissa Canone

LEESVILLE, La. (AP) - A state district judge in Vernon Parish
has ordered a 66-year-old Leesville man to spend a year in jail and
repay nearly $21,000 to owners of timber he was convicted of
burning.
The Daily Leader reports that Judge Vernon B. Clark sentenced
Darrell Wayne Westmoreland to six years at hard labor, but
suspended it on condition he spends a year in the Vernon Parish
Jail and repays the owners.
A Vernon Parish jury convicted him Feb. 11 of starting four
separate forest fires on Feb. 25, 2008. Clark sentenced him Aug.
13, telling him that anyone who sets fire to a forest in Vernon
Parish will get a severe punishment.

Topics: Leesville, Man, Sentenced, to, 1, Year, Prison, for, Starting, Forest, Fires