PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A woman accused of convincing three juveniles to start a fire that caused $500,000 to a Pierre motel has avoided prison.
A judge has given Tracy St. John a suspended prison sentence, although she will have to spend another three months in jail. The August fire nearly destroyed the low-rent, long-term stay State Motel.
Her attorney Jeremy Lund argued the 38-year-old woman has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and is less culpable than the teens she persuaded to set a bed on fire.
The Capital Journal (http://bit.ly/2nzUqHI ) reports Judge John Brown said in court Tuesday that sending St. John to prison would be “simply warehousing her.” He ordered her to get in-patient treatment and pay the hotel owner $2,500.
