By James Halpin
The Citizens’ Voice
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — After a jury deadlocked on his guilt last year, the son of Wilkes-Barre Township’s fire chief pleaded no contest Wednesday to a felony count of arson.
Richard Thomas Hart, 19, was facing charges of arson, reckless burning and burglary for allegedly setting a fire at a vacant home at 115 Casey Ave. in Wilkes-Barre Township early the morning of Dec. 21, 2015.
In a plea deal with prosecutors, Hart’s no contest plea to the single arson charge resulted in the remaining counts being withdrawn.
Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas accepted Hart’s plea and set sentencing for April 12.
Hart declined to comment as he left the courtroom, still free on $25,000 bail pending his sentencing.
He faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison for the conviction, although with no criminal record, Hart is likely to get much less than that. Lupas allowed Hart to apply for the Intermediate Punishment Program, which involves intensive probation supervision.
His attorney, John Pike, said Hart agreed to the plea to avoid going through another trial. The plea agreement does not specify a sentence, but it does call for Hart to pay about $13,000 in restitution and imposes a prohibition on him being a firefighter for the duration of his sentence, he said.
“He absolutely lived for (being a firefighter),” Pike said. “That is probably the greatest punishment coming out of this is he cannot do this. That is what he grew up in, and he loved it and he wanted to do it, and that’s been taken away from him regardless of what penalty the court imposes.”
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Hogans, who prosecuted the case, said the plea agreement, which was similar to the original offer Hart received, was fair considering Hart’s first trial in October ended with a hung jury.
“We think we had a very favorable jury. However it ended up being a mistrial with a hung jury,” Hogans said. “There is a limit to how many times we can retry a case. Rather than take that chance again, we came up to a plea that I think is great for our side in any event.”
According to prosecutors, Hart, who is the son of fire Chief Richard Hart, set the blaze at the structure on Casey Avenue and then responded to fight it as a member of the township fire company. He was identified as a suspect based on his behavior after responding to fight the fire, including a comment he made about its origin point, according to prosecutors.
Hart initially denied responsibility for the blaze, but in a subsequent interview he claimed he set it after following a cat into the vacant house, accidentally kicking over a can of gasoline and then dropping a lit cigar.
During his trial, Hart took the stand and claimed he falsely confessed because he was “scared and nervous” after repeated police interrogations.
Prosecutors countered that Hart’s changing narrative, which eventually came to include him stepping outside for coffee right before bed — and only moments after seeing a suspicious stranger lurking on the street — didn’t make any sense.
The jury deadlocked after about five hours of deliberations.
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