A St. Peters woman will spend five years in federal prison for a January fire that seriously damaged four businesses in Puerto Rico.
U.S. District Judge Gina R. Mendez-Miro issued the sentence to Danielle Bertothy, 37, on Monday in federal court in San Juan. In addition to serving prison time, Bertothy will be on supervised release for three years and will have to pay restitution. That amount will be determined in the next three months.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys had jointly recommended a five-year sentence, which is the minimum under federal law for an arson conviction.
"We were pleased the court imposed the lowest sentence allowed by law," said Bertothy's attorney, Justin Gelfand. "Danielle looks forward to putting this behind her."
Bertothy pleaded guilty in July to a single count of arson, admitting that she started a fire outside the bar she had been asked to leave twice after becoming belligerent with staff. No one was killed or injured in the fire, though a hotel in the building had to evacuate about 40 guests. Some of the restitution is to reimburse those guests for belongings destroyed in the fire.
"I forgave her. I really forgave her. I don't have anything else in my heart. I'm calm and ready to move on," said the hotel's owner, Ángel Luis Marrero Negrón. He spoke to reporters in Spanish on the day of the hearing, according to El Nuevo Día. "If she truly is remorseful, my apology is another point for her to keep moving forward and rectify her life and never do what she did ever again — to what she did to our business and our lives."
All four of the businesses appear to have reopened.
St. Louis Public Radio's Brian Munoz contributed to this article.
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