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Green Mountain Falls Town Hall Arsonist Sentenced To 12 Years

GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS, Colo. (AP) — A disgruntled driver who retaliated for a traffic ticket by setting fire to the town hall in Green Mountain Falls has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The Gazette reports that 22-year Zacharia Garrison Shaffer got the stiffest penalty possible for orchestrating the February. The century-old town hall was destroyed.

Shaffer pleaded guilty in September to first-degree arson. A co-defendant accused of helping set the fire awaits a January trial.

According to text messages sent from his phone, Shaffer was angered by a summons to appear in Green Mountain Falls on a traffic matter, where he expected to face fines. He wrote to a childhood friend, "That place is going down." Shaffer and his co-defendant both suffered burns in the arson.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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