United States v. Jacob Walls, No. 21-2146 (8th Cir. 2022)
Annotate this Case
Defendant, who was on probation for possession of methamphetamine, illegally harvested timber, cut it up into firewood and burned it. Defendant left the fires unattended and when he returned the fire had spread. Defendant fled the area and did not report the fire. Defendant pleaded guilty to willfully burning timber, underbrush, grass, and other material on public lands owned by the United States in the Buffalo National River.
The pre-sentence report provided a base offense level of 24, based on Defendant creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to firemen, nearby residents, and guests of the park. The PSR applied a two-level enhancement for Defendant's attempt to cover up his illegal timber harvesting by starting the fire. Based on Defendant's criminal history and acceptance of responsibility, his guidelines were 92 to 115 months; however, the statutory maximum for the offense was 60 months. The court sentenced Defendant to 60 months.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence. The district court did not err in applying the enhancement for creating a risk of death or serious bodily injury based on the size of the fire and the remote, rugged area where it was located. The court also rejected Defendant's claim that the fire was intended to conceal his illegal timber harvesting operation.
Court Description: [Smith, Author, with Wollman and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. The fire defendant set created a substantial risk of harm to firefighters and the district court did not err in setting defendant's offense level at 24 pursuant to Guidelines Sec. 2K1.4(a)(1); the fire was set to conceal another offense - illegal timber harvesting - and the district court did not err in imposing an enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 2K1.4(b)(1); defendant's sentence, the statutory maximum, was not substantively unreasonable.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.