POLSON — A 20-year-old Pablo man was given a six-year deferred sentence in district court on June 24 for an amended charge of felony criminal mischief and a felony burglary offense.

The charges, originally including arson, stemmed from an incident on Nov. 9, 2007, where Jude Ellsworth allegedly claimed to have looted and burned the trailer home of a Pablo man who the defendant had a dispute with. On June 17, Ellsworth appeared before Judge C.B. McNeil and pleaded guilty to the amended charge and committing burglary.

According to a police affidavit, Ellsworth was allegedly one the callers who called in the trailer home fire in the early morning hours of the incident. Not half an hour after first reports of the structure fire came in, Tribal Police officer Casey Couture received a tip from an anonymous male that Ellsworth had burglarized, vandalized and subsequently lit the trailer home on fire.

Couture then arrived at the scene of the crime and noticed a man on site watching the fire, assuming it was the home owner or a tenant. When he approached the scene further the male subject was identified as Ellsworth. When the officer asked the defendant what he was doing, Ellsworth reportedly replied with a laugh “watching the excitement.”

Ellsworth asked Couture if he was wearing a wire and attempted to pat down the officer before stopping, and stating that he didn’t care anyway because he “burned the [expletive] down.” According to the document, Couture suspected the defendant had been drinking and told him to go home several times with Ellsworth refusing. At one point, the then 19-year-old bet the officer that he did it, and replied that even if the homeowner or family had been in the home he still would’ve done the same, because he had been crossed by the individual.

Within the hour Ellsworth was placed under arrest for his claimed act of arson. When later interviewed by Lake County Sheriff’s detectives, Ellsworth denied he had burglarized the home or set it on fire — claiming that they wouldn’t find any of the stuff at his house. Upon law enforcement search of the Ellsworth residence, items reported stolen from the torched trailer were recovered including a vacuum and five Playstation 2 video games concealed in a stove jack in the ceiling of the home.

The defendant was also alleged to have broken a 50-inch TV screen with a golf club before exiting and setting fire to the front door area of the trailer.

The Pablo man originally faced felony charges of arson and burglary — facing a maximum combined punishment of 40 years prison and $100,000 in fines.