MONROE — A man charged with helping a friend set fire to a rural Monroe barn in 2016 entered a plea deal last month and was sentenced to two years on probation and ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars in restitution.
Christopher Michael Coite, 34, Monroe, received the probation sentence from Judge Thomas Vale in Green County Circuit Court after pleading no contest Feb. 19 to misdemeanor charges of criminal damage to property and negligent handling of burning material.
He also entered a five-year deferred prosecution on a Class F felony burglary charge, downgraded from the Class C felony arson charge initially filed against him. If he complies with his deferred prosecution agreement, which includes attending quarterly review hearings, the felony charge will be fully dismissed.
His partner in setting the barn fire, James Leroy Sweeney, 36, Monroe, was sentenced by Vale earlier in February to a cumulative six and a half years in prison for convictions related to the arson and to sexually assaulting a witness later the same night.
Coite and Sweeney are jointly responsible for $91,310 in restitution, including $86,310 to a collections agency for the barn owner, Lentz Wolf, and to an insurance company on behalf of Wolf’s business, Lone Wolf Grain LLC.
The codefendants are “each on the hook for the entire amount” of restitution, under joint and several liability law, said District Attorney Craig Nolen. They’re ordered to pay the restitution at a minimum of $100 per month.
Sweeney is ordered to pay the sexual assault victim $18,060, in addition to his restitution owed with Coite.
According to police reports filed with the criminal complaint, Sweeney instigated the arson with help from Coite.
On the night of April 15, 2016, Sweeney picked up Coite and a woman for drinks before announcing his plan to burn down the barn in the N600 block of County HK, Town of Clarno.
The woman, who later reported the incident to police, said they went to the farm and the two men attempted to set the barn on fire after first letting the cattle out. Sweeney then dropped off Coite at his residence before returning to the barn with the woman to see if the fire had been successful.
The fire had failed to start, so Sweeney re-entered the barn alone to try again. This time he was successful, and the woman said she could see the barn consumed by flames as Sweeney drove away.
Sweeney believed the barn owner, a former employer, owed him backpay and he was looking to take revenge, according to Nolen.
No people or livestock were injured in the fire, but it caused “significant property damage,” Nolen said.