December 11, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Sentencing for a man convicted of setting fire in the courthouse has been postponed again.
55 year old Gary Wayne Ponder was scheduled for sentencing Tuesday but the case has been delayed until February 3 in Criminal Court.
Ponder was convicted in July for setting fire in a courthouse vestibule recycling bin on June 14, 2016 causing more than $100,000 in damage to the building.
After hearing several hours of testimony, it took a jury, made up of six men and six women, less than half an hour to deliver it’s verdict. Guilty as charged for aggravated arson.
The range of punishment for this Class-A felony offense is from 15-25 years.
Ponder had been scheduled for sentencing Friday, September 20 but the hearing was reset for December 10 and has now been delayed again until February 3. He remains incarcerated at the jail.