Stuttgart Man Pleads Guilty To Arson At County Courthouse Annex

LITTLE ROCK—Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Grover Crossland, Resident Agent in Charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), announced that Donald Aaron, age 34, of Stuttgart, appeared before United States District Court Judge J. Leon Holmes on Monday and pled guilty to an indictment charging him with the arson of the Stuttgart Courthouse Annex building.

On September 23, 2014, a fire destroyed the Stuttgart Courthouse Annex building in downtown Stuttgart. This building housed the Arkansas County Sherriff’s Office, offices of the Arkansas State Police, the 911 coordinator, the Office of Emergency Management, the Arkansas County Tax Assessor, the County Tax Collector, the County Judge and the Emergency Operations Center. The building eventually had to be demolished with a total loss of approximately $2.2 million.

In January 2015, a federal grand jury returned a two-count Indictment charging Aaron with arson for the fire at the Annex. After Aaron pled guilty to one count of maliciously destroying a building that is used in interstate commerce by means of fire, with injury resulting from the fire, the remaining count in the Indictment of maliciously destroying by means of fire a building which receives federal funds was dismissed. Under 18 U.S.C. § 844(i), the arson count carries with it a mandatory sentence of not less than seven years, not more than 40 years imprisonment, with not more than five years of supervised release to follow. Aaron will also be required to pay restitution in the amount of $2,207,334.25.

Through investigation the ATF determined that the fire at the Annex was incendiary. Based upon photographs taken of the fire, examination of the scene, and witness interviews, the fire investigators determined that the fire originated in the rear hallway of the first floor of the structure. Surveillance cameras from various businesses in downtown Stuttgart showed an individual, later determined to be Aaron, walking to and from the area of the Annex just prior to the fire, at times carrying objects and at other times hiding his face. Aaron is seen in the area near a broken first-floor window, which was the entry point to the locked Annex building.

According to the facts read at Monday’s hearing, following the return of the indictment in January Aaron was arrested and admitted to lighting the fire that destroyed the Annex. Aaron was attempting to smoke methamphetamine using tin foil and a lighter when flame from the foil shot up approximately 18 inches high. Aaron then threw the flaming foil down on the ground and fled the building, while the foil was still on fire. This fire caught the building on fire.

Aaron will be sentenced by Judge Holmes at a later date.

The case was investigated by ATF Special Agents Timothy Boles and David Oliver, with assistance from the Arkansas State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Chris Givens prosecuted the matter for the United States.