Former professor sentenced for setting multiple fires as Dixie Fire burned

SACRAMENTO — The U.S Eastern District Court sentenced a former Sonoma State professor to five years and three months in prison for arson.

Gary Stephen Maynard, 49, of San Jose set multiple fires near the Dixie Fire while it was burning, the court determined, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

“Maynard went on an arson spree on federal land while California faced one of the worst fire seasons in history. He intentionally made a dangerous situation more perilous by setting some of his fires behind the men and women fighting the Dixie Fire, potentially cutting off any chance of escape,” U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said in the release.

In addition to his prison sentence, Maynard was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $13,081 in restitution, Talbert said.

Maynard also admitted in court to setting four other fires including the Cascade Fire, the Everitt Fire, the Ranch Fire and the Conard Fire all during 2021.

The U.S. Forest Service, the FBI, Cal Fire, the California Highway Patrol and the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office all worked on the investigation for this case.

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