LOS ANGELES (AP) - A German man has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for setting fire to cars and homes over several nights in Los Angeles to avenge his mother’s deportation.
Harry Burkhart was sentenced in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday after being found guilty of 49 arson charges in 2016. Burkhart used an insanity defense but a jury found him sane a few weeks ago.
The 30-year-old Burkhart set small fires that spread fear in Hollywood, West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley between Dec. 30, 2011 and Jan. 2, 2012. There were no serious injuries but damages were estimated at more than $3 million.
Prosecutors say Burkhart threatened to “roast America” after his mother, Dorothee Burkhart, was ordered extradited to Germany to face fraud charges there.
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