Fairview Heights IL man pleads guilty Belleville arson crime

After setting fire to a house in 2015, a Fairview Heights man was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Michael C. Newton, 25, pleaded guilty to aggravated arson July 27, almost two years after he was charged with setting the fire. Belleville police and fire departments responded on Nov. 4, 2015, to a fire at the 200 block of N. 46th Street at the Plaza Apartments, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said Newton knew someone was home in the apartment buildings at the time of the fire.

Newton also was convicted of domestic battery and residential burglary, all unrelated charges. He’ll serve his five-year sentence for burglary and 100-day sentence for the domestic battery concurrently with his arson sentence.