Man Gets 5 to 10 Years for Burning Pennsylvania Covered Bridge

August 28, 2009

A northwestern Pennsylvania has been sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for setting fire to a historic covered bridge and unrelated charges of shooting at an occupied car.

State police say 24-year-old Jeffrey Gleason, of Conneautville, was drunk and set fire to the bridge because he wanted to do something people would remember him for.

Gleason pleaded guilty in July to causing $1 million damage to the Gudgeonville bridge in Girard Township on Nov. 8. The bridge was built in 1868 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The shooting charges stem from an incident two weeks after the arson.

Gleason’s co-defendant in the arson, 23-year-old Joshua Michael Bell, of Albion, is scheduled for trial in September.

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