Federal Grand Jury Indicts Cumberland County Man for Burning Burkesville, Kentucky City Hall

Bowling Green, KY – A federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned an indictment on October 9, 2024, charging a Cumberland County, Kentucky man with setting fire to the Burkesville, Kentucky City Hall.  

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow of the ATF Louisville Field Division, and Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Jr. of the Kentucky State Police made the announcement.

According to the indictment, Nathan Riddle, 47, was charged with arson of a building receiving federal funds, and arson of a building affecting interstate commerce. On October 25, 2020, Riddle, maliciously damaged by means of fire, the Burkesville City Hall, which was owned by the City of Burkesville, Kentucky. The City of Burkesville received federal funding and the building was involved in business which affected interstate commerce.

Riddle made his initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on October 17, 2024. The Court ordered the defendant detained pending further proceedings. If convicted, Riddle faces a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison, and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

There is no parole in the federal system.    

This case is being investigated by the ATF and the Kentucky State Police.  

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Yurchisin II of the United States Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office is prosecuting the case. 

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

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