Former Sonoma State University lecturer and alleged serial arsonist, Gary Stephen Maynard, 47, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday, Nov. 18.
Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced that Maynard is being charged with four counts of arson to federal property and one count of setting timber afire. If convicted, Maynard could face up to 20 years in prison along with a $250,000 fine for each individual count of arson.
The official news release posted by the Dependent of Justice stated that, “Arson to federal property carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.”
According to court documents, Maynard is accused of starting four separate fires over the course of July and August, the Cascade Fire on July 20, the Everitt Fire on July 21, and both the Ranch and Conard Fire on August 7.
In a phone interview with The New York Times, one of Maynard’s lawyers, Hannah Labaree said, “Mr. Maynard has consistently denied the allegations and he will enter a formal plea of not guilty at his hearing next week.”
The fires were started near the Shasta Trinity National Forest and Lassen National Forest, all within a concerning proximity to the growing Dixie fire. While the fires were extinguished before they could reach any homes or buildings, they were a huge threat to the firefighters working to contain the Dixie fire.
The Dixie fire, which began on July 13 burning through October 25 when it was fully contained, is one of the largest wildfires in California history, burning over 963,309 acres and 1,329 structures.
Maynard was arrested on Aug. 7 for “willfully setting fire to land owned by or under the jurisdiction of the United States” and is currently being held at Sacramento County Jail without bail.
However, authorities first began investigating Maynard back in July when his vehicle was spotted close to where the Cascade Fire had first started.
Originally from San Jose, Maynard was a part-time lecturer at Sonoma State University back in Fall of 2020, teaching two seminars that semester in Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies.
Maynard also worked at Santa Clara university from September 2019 to December 2020 as an adjunct faculty member for the sociology department.
For more information on Maynard’s original arrest, check out the STAR’s August 31 issue online at sonomastatestar.com.
