Former Maryland Volunteer Firefighter Sentenced in Arson Case
July 12--CUMBERLAND -- Former Baltimore Pike volunteer firefighter Patrick Levi Kneisley, 24, of Cumberland was sentenced in Allegany County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon to seven years actual time in prison for four arson-related charges.
In accordance with a plea agreement Kneisley entered June 4, Circuit Judge W. Timothy Finan sentenced Kneisley to 23 years and six months in prison, but suspended all but seven years. That sentence was in excess of the non-binding sentencing guidelines of the state.
Kneisley, currently being held in the Allegany County Detention Center, was present in court but declined the opportunity to make a statement.
The plea agreement to accept a sentence in excess of the guidelines stemmed from the nature of the charges and the state's agreement to dismiss 20 of the 24 original charges, Finan said. Kneisley will also be placed on five years of supervised probation after he serves his prison sentence. Kneisley was also ordered to pay $7,409.62 in restitution to victims in the case as a condition of his probation. He will also be required to submit to a psychological evaluation and attend any counseling required by his probation officer when he is released from prison.
Kneisley had pleaded guilty to four counts including second-degree arson and first-degree malicious burning, as well as second-degree malicious burning and malicious destruction of property. The maximum sentence he could have received was 29.5 years.
Allegany County State's Attorney Michael Twigg prosecuted the case, and Public Defender David Schram represented Kneisley.
The arsons were "not done out of any malice," Schram said before the judge issued the sentence.
Kneisley was a suspect in earlier fires when he was arrested and charged with arson for using a lighter to start two fires Dec. 3 on East Roberts Street at 12:48 a.m. and a vehicle fire in the 1000 block of Lexington Avenue at 2:34 a.m.
After his arrest, Kneisley confessed to setting fires on five occasions, Deputy State Fire Marshal John Ray has said. Kneisley also said he started some of the fires while under the influence of alcohol. The dates of the earlier fires were Oct. 1, 13 and 26. During the Oct. 1 fire, he used an ignited piece of paper to start a vehicle fire in the 300 block of North Centre Street, officials said.
Kneisley was indicted on the 24 counts Jan. 28 by a grand jury.
The sentencing was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed after Twigg requested more time to verify the restitution amounts.
The charges for which Kneisley was sentenced Friday aren't the first against Kneisley for fire-related offenses. He was charged with second-degree arson and other offenses in 2009, when he was 18. That case resulted in a Feb. 9, 2009, guilty plea to second-degree malicious burning. He was sentenced to one year in jail for that offense, with a portion of the sentence suspended.
Copyright 2015 - Cumberland Times-News, Md.
