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Woman gets over 17 years in arson case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Although a woman convicted in a federal arson case maintained her innocence Wednesday, a judge said the jury made the right decision and that setting down a harsh sentence would deter others from committing the same crime.
U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio Judge Benita Y. Pearson sentenced 33-year-old Latasha Curtis of Youngstown to 17 years and three months in prison for one count of use of fire to commit a felony; one count of malicious damaging or destroying of any building or real property used in interstate commerce by means of fire; and conspiracy to violate those offenses.
Curtis was convicted Aug. 7 after a trial. During Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Pearson also agreed to a request by prosecutors to enhance the federal sentencing guidelines for the case, which allow for a longer sentence, because of claims they made that Curtis hindered their investigation and threatened a witness from the Mahoning County jail after the case was over.
Curtis pleaded for mercy, saying that her children would be grown if she received a maximum sentence of 20 years, and said she is appealing her convictions.
“At the end of the day I stand on my innocence,” Curtis told the judge.
However, Judge Pearson said she thought the jury got the verdict right.
“I do not believe today I am sentencing an innocent person,” Judge Pearson said. “I believe the jury got it right.”
Curtis was convicted after a four-day trial of setting a fire to a rental property at 75 Hilton Ave. on Oct. 19, 2013. State Farm insurance asked for more than $73,000 in resititution, which Curtis was ordered to pay.
The Rev. Zola Smith, Curtis’ mother, also asked the judge for leniency. Pastor Smith told the judge her daughter has made a series of bad choices that stem from her low self-esteem and that she also had been in several abusive relationships.
“She kind of takes whatever comes along with that,” she said. “She needs to be counseled. Not locked up.”
Curtis is the mother of five children and the oldest, who is 16, is nine months pregnant, Pastor Smith said.
Judge Pearson said it was hard to be lenient because one of the counts carries a 10-year minimum sentence. Judge Pearson also said she agreed Curtis has made bad decisions, and she urged Curtis to work on her self-esteem in prison so she does not fall in with the wrong people when she gets out.
“You must develop a strong backbone. A greater sense of independence,” Judge Pearson said.
But Judge Pearson also said that arson is a serious crime, and the federal justice system takes it seriously by imposing harsh sentences — sentences she said she is willing to impose because of the danger an arson poses to the community.