The suspect charged with igniting a fire that eventually led to the deadly Palisades Fire could now face up to 45 years in prison after a federal grand jury indicted him and added two more felonies to his criminal case Wednesday. Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is charged in the three-count indictment with one count of destruction of property by means of fire.
He is also now charged with one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and one count of timber set afire. Rinderknecht was facing 20 years behind bars before Wednesday’s indictment if convicted. Now that two additional felonies were added, they more than doubled his potential time in prison to 45 years. He would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison.
