Connecticut drug dealer gets life sentence for fatal 2011 fire

By Richard Weizel MILFORD, Conn. (Reuters) - A convicted Connecticut drug dealer was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison for a 2011 fire set in retaliation for a small drug debt that killed three members of a family, including an 8-year-old boy. Hector Natal, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton two years after he was convicted of the March 2011 arson that killed 41-year-old Wanda Roberson, her 8-year-old son, Quayshaun Roberson, and her 21-year-old niece, Jaqueeta Roberson. "Hector Natal set fire to his neighbors' home knowing that two large families, which included older women and young children, were inside," said Deirdre Daly, U.S. attorney for Connecticut. "This reckless act took the lives of three innocents, and the sentence imposed today will protect society from this defendant," she said. Seventeen people were in the house at the time of the fire. Natal was found guilty in April 2013 of three counts of arson resulting in death, witness tampering and conspiracy to distribute narcotics. During the morning of March 9, 2011, Natal set fire to the New Haven house in retaliation for a customer's failure to pay a small drug debt, prosecutors said. Natal has been detained since his arrest on June 14, 2011. (Reporting by Richard Weizel; Editing by Scott Malone and Eric Beech)