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Sebring man gets prison in arson case

Already served 16 months

YOUNGSTOWN — The assistant prosecutor, defense attorney, judge and victim of the crimes Derek G. Rinehart, 28, committed in January 2020 agreed that Rinehart deserves consideration for his mental health challenges.

But deciding on a sentence for such a person is a “balancing act” between getting someone help and protecting the public, assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Paris said.

“At this point, I think protecting the public is necessary,” she told Judge Anthony D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

She recommended that Rinehart get a prison sentence after he threatened to set fire to his grandmother’s house on Florida Avenue in Sebring and kept police at bay for five hours.

Rinehart told police he had poured gasoline on the floor of the house.

Rinehart pleaded guilty earlier this month before D’Apolito to attempted aggravated arson, intimidation, inducing panic and obstructing official business.

Paris said she had been advised that police have “a history of interaction with this defendant in Sebring, and I do believe at this point, given the severity of this situation and the risk he created to all of the officers who were present,” that prison is needed.

“I do believe every officer from Sebring was on scene. The risk he posed to the entire agency, I believe a prison sentence is warranted.”

But Rinehart already has served about 16 months in the county jail and has less than two months left to serve, his attorney, Tom Zena, said.

Rinehart was a crime victim in 2007, and the person who committed the acts was prosecuted by Mahoning County prosecutors, Zena noted.

Paris said she is not a mental health professional, “but I do feel comfortable acknowledging that there is a history of mental health issues” and acknowledged the prosecution Zena mentioned.

“I certainly can’t deny the mitigating nature of those circumstances,” Paris said.

The judge said “there is some sympathy,” but also “acknowledgment of the danger he poses.”

Zena agreed that the acts Rinehart committed that day were bad. “It was mayhem,” Zena said.

But during a mental health evaluation, Rinehart said he “wasn’t sure if people were trying to kill him that day, including his father, and that is why he put gas all around the house.”

Rinehart’s grandmother, a victim in the case, asked that Rinehart not get any jail time.

In addition to the jail time, Rinehart will be on parole for three years.

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