Man jailed in US for Vegas puppy shop fire
AP
March 3, 2015, 7:33 am
Apologies didn't sway a Nevada judge who has sentenced a man to between four and 10 years in prison for setting fire to a pet shop, forcing 27 puppies and dogs to be rescued after sprinklers doused flames.
Kirk Bills turned to family members and animal rights advocates in the courtroom and said he wished he could take back what he had done.
But Judge David Barker said Bills acted "hand in hand" with former shop owner Gloria Eun Hye Lee, who Barker sentenced last week to five to 14 years in prison for arson, insurance fraud and attempted animal cruelty in the January 2014 fire.
"You're the one who chose to light the match," the judge told Bills.
"You couldn't have possibly not known those were living creatures in these cages."
Defence lawyer Roger Bailey asked for leniency and a two-to-five year sentence.
Bailey said that with good behaviour behind bars and time already served in jail, Bills could be eligible for parole by 2018.
