Brian Alan Anderson, 25, and William Thomas Coppock, 26, were sentenced today to a year in county jail for their involvement in the November 2007 Corral Fire, which destroyed 53 homes, injured five firefighters and burned nearly 5,000 acres . They have been in jail since pleading guilty 200 days ago to recklessly causing the fire. They must serve 165 more days.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Susan Speer also placed the men on five years formal probation and ordered them to complete 500 hours of community service and to write letters of apology to the victims who lost their homes and the firefighters who were injured. The judge also sentenced Anderson and Coppock to four years in state prison, but suspended the sentence. In addition, the men must pay $7.7 million in restitution for the firefighting costs alone. A full restitution hearing is scheduled for Oct. 20.
Anderson and Coppock pleaded no contest in June to one count each of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury and recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure. They pleaded “open to the court,” which means it was not part of a negotiated settlement with the District Attorney’s Office.
Two other defendants, Dean Allen Lavorante and Eric Matthew Ullman, will return to court Oct. 20 to face charges stemming from the fire. A fifth man, Brian David Franks, entered a no contest plea in 2008 and was sentenced to five years probation and 300 hours of community service.