The young man who was charged in connection to an April, 2016 fire that destroyed a train trestle bridge was sentenced in a Mayerthorpe courtroom Thursday morning.
Lawson Schalm, 20, was sentenced to 24 months in jail, followed by three years’ probation.
Schalm pleaded guilty to starting 18 fires – one of them destroyed a train trestle bridge, costing CN Rail millions of dollars – in an arson spree of nearly 20 fires in about 10 days.
Schalm, who was a local volunteer firefighter, helped battle the fires he later admitted to setting, before he became a suspect and then was arrested.
The Crown had asked for a lengthy sentence, but in his decision, the judge took a number of factors into consideration. Justice Charles Gardner acknowledged Schalm was “clearly reckless regarding the consequences of his actions”.
Gardner referred to a psychiatric assessment that showed Schalm has “significant cognitive deficits”, plus had no criminal record and was considered a low risk to reoffend, led to the sentence.
“I thought it was a very humane sentence by a very respected and fair-minded judge,” defence lawyer Ed O’Neill said Thursday.
The Crown had asked for a sentence of five years, and could appeal.
“The Crown will go back and take some time and review the decision, we’ll look at whether overall that’s a fit and proper sentence,” Crown Prosecutor Dallas Sopko said.
Schalm will serve his sentence in a provincial jail – his sentence also includes paying the town more than $8,000 in restitution. CN Rail didn’t ask for anything in this decision, although it is out more than $7 million.
With files from Susan Amerongen
