Missouri Man Sentenced to 7 Years for Office Complex Arson

A judge gave the maximum sentence possible to a man who admitted to setting fire to an office complex in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Twenty-six-year-old Mark K. Carleton was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison. He pleaded guilty last month to setting a fire on Nov. 21 that destroyed the office complex.

Carleton worked for RGIS Inventory Services, which occupied two of the complex’s offices. Prosecutors say he set the blaze by lighting paper on fire.

The Southeast Missourian reports Carleton told a police officer that he set the blaze because he was upset by a pay cut.

The fire caused $500,000 damage. The office complex was condemned Nov. 22 and its seven tenants had to relocate.