Benton man sentenced for helping friend set fire to duplex

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

38 2 minutes read

Benton man sentenced for helping friend set fire to duplex

AUGUSTA — A Benton man has been sentenced to nine months in prison for helping another man pour gasoline on a Waterville duplex occupied by five people and set it on fire.

Devon J. Pomelow

Devon J. Pomelow, now 24, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for arson, suspended for nine months, and four years of probation. If he complies with the terms of his probation, he will serve nine months in the Maine Department of Corrections. If he violates the terms of his probation, he could serve the full 10-year sentence.

The fire was started by Pomelow and Aaron Pelotte, now 27, of Cornville, in an attempt to cause trouble between one of the tenants and Pelotte’s estranged wife, who was apparently seeing the tenant at the time, and to get her to move back in, according to an affidavit filed by Kenneth MacMaster, lead investigator for the State Fire Marshal’s Office. The man was not home at the time of the fire.

An occupant of 10 Moody St., a duplex that also includes 12 Moody St., saw the fire and used a fire extinguisher to control the flames until firefighters arrived.

Pomelow was also sentenced to 30 days, to be served concurrently with his arson sentence, for criminal mischief in Waterville for damaging the tires on Jan. 22, 2023, of a vehicle owned by the same man who was apparently the target of the attempted fire at the duplex.

Aaron Pelotte

Pelotte, a co-defendant in the case, is expected to be sentenced on the same charges next month, according to District Attorney Frank Griffin, assistant district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties.

Pelotte pleaded guilty to arson and criminal mischief in July, according to Maeghan Maloney, district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties.

According to the affidavit filed by MacMaster, Pelotte and Pomelow parked a car on Jan. 29, 2023, at a corner of Moody Street and walked to the front corner of 10 Moody Street. They were carrying a can of gasoline, which was captured on surveillance camera. They poured gasoline on the exterior of 10 Moody Street, in the area of electrical outlets and cables.

“A flammable liquid then ignited, causing a large flash fire, again captured on surveillance camera footage,” MacMaster wrote.

Around 10:30 p.m., five people were inside the Moody Street duplex, including two men at 10 Moody St. and a couple and their infant daughter at 12 Moody St., authorities said.

Pomelow's probation conditions include not using or possessing firearms or dangerous weapons, not possessing incendiary devices, not having contact with any of his victims and undergoing therapy as directed by his probation officer.

Pomelow, who had already pleaded guilty, was taken into custody in court Wednesday to begin his sentence, hugging a crying woman who was with him before being handcuffed and led out of the courtroom by a court officer.

MacMaster wrote that if not for the actions of the occupants of 10 Moody St. who saw the fire and brought it under control, the flames could have escalated into a full-blown structure fire and endangered the lives of the five occupants of the duplex.

The tenants told firefighters they heard a rumbling noise and went outside to investigate, seeing the fire spread halfway up a wall. They said they immediately used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

Firefighters said they noticed the smell of gasoline near the debris from the fire.