Four plead guilty to setting California wildfire — and are ordered to pay over $40 million

Criminal sentences have been handed down to four people responsible for setting the Pier Fire in 2017.

That wildfire sparked Aug. 29 of that year and burned more than 35,000 acres near the Tulare County community of Springville in the Sequoia National Forest to an estimated $40 million in damages. The defendants were arrested in October on suspicion of causing the fire.

Earlier this year, Isiac Renteria, Richard Renteria, Osvaldo Esparza-Guerrero and Breane Ojeda pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including arson of a structure or forest and taking a vehicle without consent. The four set fire to a stolen car in an attempt to destroy it, which in turn ignited what became the Pier Fire.

Both Renterias and Esparza-Guerrero were each sentenced to eight years suspended prison, with credit for three years actually served in custody. Ojeda was sentenced to three years, four month of months of suspended prison.

Beginning in January 2024, the sentence of life in prison can no longer be imposed for aggravated arson with a loss over $8.3 million. The statute would be retroactively applied in this case, according to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office, which initially said each defendant faced a 15-year sentence if convicted.

The defendants are being ordered to pay more than $40 million in restitution.

A restitution hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6.