February 5, 2020
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 Monday, February 3 but the case has been delayed until March 4 in Criminal Court. This is the third time sentencing has been postponed. The primary reason this time was because the assistant public defender handling the case recently retired and his replacement has not had sufficient time to prepare for the hearing.
Ponder was convicted in July, 2019 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 originally been scheduled for sentencing September 20 but the hearing was reset for December 10 and then for February 3. He remains incarcerated at the DeKalb County Jail. Because Ponder has a long term illness, efforts have been made under a judge’s order to have Ponder moved to a state facility for housing pending sentencing but so far Ponder remains on a waiting list until a bed is available.