Hey this is my first post here, but anyways, this article is about a friend I had while I was a teenager, its kinda weird to know someone who sucks this bad i guess... Man Sentenced For Arson Posted 2007-10-23 Defendant Says Meth Deal Behind Crime
By David Reynolds
HARRISONBURG — A 22-year-old Elkton man testified Monday that he was high on methamphetamine and hadn’t slept for more than three days when he set two fires inside a home on North Liberty Street in March.
Adam Franklin Craig testified in Rockingham County Circuit Court on Monday that he’d used meth for seven years, since he was 15, and that he never seriously considered quitting until he was facing life in prison.
“I was just trying to destroy the house for the money that was owed to me,” he testified. “I made a bad decision. I wasn’t thinking.”
Judge James Lane sentenced Craig to serve six years of a 45-year sentence for burning an occupied home at 677 N. Liberty St.
Craig pleaded guilty in August to arson and also entered Alford pleas to three counts of attempted unlawful wounding in connection with the burning.
An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, rather it is an acknowledgment that the state has evidence for a conviction.
The Case
About 1:30 p.m. on March 6, residents fled the burning two-story home, which is divided into several apartments. Firefighters responded and extinguished the blaze, which caused $30,000 to $40,000 in damage.
No one was seriously injured in the fire.
Police arrested Craig in the coming days, and during a police interview he admitting setting fires inside the building, according to court testimony.
On Monday, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Louis Nagy said Craig’s actions of starting two fires — one near the front door and another near the back — showed he intended to hurt people inside.
Craig’s criminal record, which includes prior convictions for threatening to burn and bomb threats, shows a predilection for violence, especially by fire, Nagy said.
The prosecutor recommended that Craig receive a 25-year sentence.
The Defense
Craig testified that one of the building’s residents owed him $200 on a drug deal and that he wanted to destroy the home to get back at him.
“I was really agitated over my money. I made a bad decision,” Craig testified. “I lit a couch on fire and then a mattress.”
His attorney, A. Gene Hart Jr., said that Craig had been a slave to meth for most of his life and that the drug clouded his judgment.
While Craig took responsibility for the arson, he didn’t intend to hurt anyone, Hart said, and should be given another chance to get clean and straighten up his life.
In addition to the six-year prison sentence, Lane said that Craig would be evaluated for drug abuse and mental health treatment.
“When I look at you’re case,” Lane said, “I see someone addicted to one of the worst substances on the [black market] today, methamphetamine.”
Now the only problem I have is where it says craig never seriously considered quitting meth untill facing a life in prison, is that he went to the hospital all cranked out and quit for like 6 months. O well
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yeah 20 years is fucking extreme. The kid set 2 fires, there were 6 people who lived there and a dog(no one actually got hurt). He was just burned out as a person before it happened, like a shell. His mother supported him until a few months before, paying his rent because her husband didn't want a crank-head in his house(the husband was also a meth user, but was a part of the local town, and didn't draw attention like Adam). She cut him off and he surprisingly did more meth. There was alot more than crank here is my point I guess, but with all the speeds its so damn easy to overdue it.
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