‘My crime was my outlet’: Man sentenced for northern Utah arson spree
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A northern Utah man was sentenced this week after admitting to going on an arson spree in Box Elder County this past July.
Chance Cutler, 21, of Tremonton, pleaded guilty last month to two second-degree felony counts of aggravated arson. He also pleaded guilty to third-degree arson and three misdemeanor arson counts.
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“I am truthfully very sorry for the financial or monetary strain this has caused those whom my crimes affected,” Cutler wrote in a letter to the judge.
He added that during his arson spree he was caught up in his head with anger and “a multitude of other emotions.”
“I felt my crime was my only outlet, my only release,” he wrote.
According to investigators, Cutler admitted to setting six fires in July of 2023. He burned a camp-trailer, a semitrailer, an abandoned house, a field/gravel pit, and a barn that contained a car. He also admitted to sparking a brushfire.
First District Judge Spencer Walsh sentenced Cutler on Tuesday to one to 15 years in prison on the second-degree felony charges. For the third-degree charge, he was sentenced to no longer than five years.
The sentences were sent to run concurrently, so he would only serve up to 15 years in total. He was given credit for 165 days served.
Cutler was also ordered to pay nearly $20,000 in restitution and obtain mental health treatment.
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