Ex-wine trader and arsonist sentenced to 27 years in prison

Lawrence Karlton, the District Judge presiding over the case, read out a total of 19 charges against Mr. Anderson including the arson as predicate offence and called them a “painful series of crimes”. During the tough trial, Mr. Anderson made his lawyer repeatedly mention his bad state of health, and he appeared in court “sickly” and, thus, obviously influenced the jury. After the judgment, the judge said that the now 63-year old Mr. Anderson, who used to be an administrative commissioner, had risked a life sentence.

In the warehouse, that was completely burnt, wines from 95 Californian wineries were stored. Moreover, many collectors had stored their fine drops there. The destruction of complete vintages, which the producers had considered safe in the warehouse, is particularly tragic. “In the fire, we irretrievably lost our complete wine history”, Ted Hall, owner of the Long Meadow Ranch Winery, St. Helena, said totally consternated. “We cannot simply call the operator of the warehouse or the insurance company and ask them to bring back our wines – they are lost forever.”

Many of the warehouse’s clients were insured but many were not. The former, among them Sterling Vineyards, will be compensated by insurance benefits; this winery alone lost 27 million US dollar (about 20 million euro). For others, the losses led to a total give-up of their business; some of them were ruined by the losses.

During the time-consuming trial, Mr. Anderson’s lavish lifestyle has been considered. He ran a boutique wine storehouse in the destroyed warehouse, and he is writing lifestyle columns under the pseudonym “Joe Sausalito” in a local newspaper. It is supposed that the expulsion out of the warehouse and his financial problems fuelled his frustration and anger to an extent that he became an arsonist.

According to his lawyer, Mark Anderson accepted the 19 charges, one of them being tax evasion, and he pleaded guilty in order to make the prosecutor demand a lower sentence. His pleading guilty and his state of health saved him from a life sentence. Though, Mr. Anderson’s lawyer wants to appeal against the judgment. (red.yoopress)