VIDEO: Jacob LaHair, a 31-year-old convicted arsonist, will spend four years in prison after pleading guilty to starting the Bosque fire in Los Lunas, which destroyed nearly a dozen homes and injured several firefighters in June. The Valencia County District Attorney’s Office announced on Facebook that LaHair pleaded no contest to negligent arson for the Bosque fires and was sentenced to four years in prison and 18 months of supervised probation.
The criminal complaint outlines the investigative work that led to LaHair’s conviction, stating that he started the fire by demonstrating to his children how fast cotton burns. LaHair flicked his cigarette on the cotton in the Bosque, causing the fire to quickly spiral out of control. Law enforcement received multiple tips implicating LaHair, including one from a tipster who claimed LaHair was laughing and joking about the incident.
KOAT’s legal expert, John Day, commented on the sentence, saying, “It seems to be pretty close to the maximum allowed by law. And so, there’s really not much more that could have been brought against the arsonist.”
Day also noted the strength of the case against LaHair, stating, “Looks like they put together a very strong case and were able to pinpoint who set the fire. It’s likely that more people weren’t injured and more structures weren’t destroyed. It was this that could really have gotten out of hand.”
