BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A former Birmingham police officer this morning was sentenced to 100 years in prison on arson convictions related to [URL='http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/06/former_birmingham_police_offic_8.html']six fires last year in Warrior and the Ensley area of Birmingham.
Curtis Jeffrey Thornton, 28, was found guilty June 13 of four counts of second degree arson and one count each of attempted second-degree arson and first-degree criminal mischief in four fires in Warrior and two fires in western Birmingham during April and May 2012.
Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Clyde Jones sentenced Thornton to 20 years each on the four second degree arson charges and 10 years each on the criminal mischief and attempted second-degree arson charge.
Thornton indicated he will file a notice of intent to appeal his conviction and sentence.
Before sentencing Thornton, the judge listened to a July 15 jailhouse recording of a telephone conversation Thornton had with another man in which he told the man that he would "tell everyone to kiss his a..." before apologizing or asking for mercy.
A few minutes later when Jones asked Thornton if he wanted to say anything before pronouncing sentence, Thornton declined.
Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney John Geer sought the maximum sentence on each of six counts to run consecutively for a total of 100 years. Thornton continues to be in "complete denial" and that his behavior was escalating and the fires getting more serious.
Thornton started fires while he was in uniform and on duty, Geer said. "His behavior was brazen," he said.
Geer said there may be a question about the requested 100-year sentence being longer than a murder sentence. It is rare for a person who commits murder to commit another murder. "This defendant was a serial arsonist," he said.
Thornton's grandmother, grandfather, and father asked the judge for leniency.
Sue Thornton, his grandmother, told the judge that Curtis had always been a good child and was respectful. "I can't believe that it has all come to this ... I just can't see him doing all of this," she said.
His grandmother said they have custody of Thornton's two sons, ages 7 and 8.
Thornton's attorney, Brett Hamock, told the judge that Thornton had no prior criminal history, was living in Tuscaloosa when his home was destroyed by a tornado on April 27, 2011, and that Thornton had been through a divorce and was awarded custody of his two children.
Thornton has always held a job, Hamock said.
Godfrey Chrysoverges, the father of Thornton's former fiancée and owner of house where one of the fires was started, told the judge that Thornton hurt his family. "But I think the people he hurt the most was his children... he took himself out of their lives," he said.
Chrysoverges said after the sentencing that Thornton also has a child with his daughter.
Indictments handed down last year charged Thornton in connection with these 2012 incidents: second-degree arson, related to a fire at a house at 478 Dana Drive, Warrior, on April 11; second-degree arson related to a fire of a house at 480 Dana Road, on April 19; attempted second-degree arson connected to a fire at 470 Dana Road on May 1; second degree arson for a May 8 fire at 1577 Martin Avenue in Birmingham; first-degree criminal mischief for a fire that destroyed a shed May 16 at 478 Dana Road; and second-degree arson for a fire at a house at 1708 29th Street in western Birmingham on May 21.
Thornton also was indicted in May on seven counts of possession of obscene material containing images of children under the age of 17. He has not been tried on those charges, which stem from a review of his computer following his arson arrest.
Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney Joe Roberts also prosecuted the case.
Prosecutors during the trial said that at some point Thornton stopped caring about the laws he was to enforce and began setting fires in Birmingham with another officer, Jason Arnold.
Arnold, of Hoover, and a third man, Anthony Weaver, 48, also were charged with arson in connection with the two west Birmingham fires. Court records show that Weaver's trial is set to begin June 17. Arnold's is set for Oct. 7.
Weaver filed a federal lawsuit against Arnold, Thornton, claiming that he burned down seven to 10 houses at the direction of Arnold May 2012. Weaver claims Arnold told him he and other officers were responsible for burning down one structure. He states that Arnold threatened him if he didn't comply with his request to burn down houses.
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Former Birmingham police officer sentenced to 100 years in prison for arson convictions | al.com
We do...
I mean just say life in prison without the possibility of parole and let's get it over with.
