Iowa Couple Gets Up To Ten Years For Torching Home Lost In Foreclosure

In LeClair, Iowa, the Quad Cities Times reports:

• A couple who burned down their house lost in foreclosure, then filed a fraudulent insurance claim will spend up to 10 years in prison, a Scott County judge ruled Thursday. Lawrence and Patricia Atwood, who lived in a house on the outskirts of LeClaire, Iowa, were ordered immediately into custody after an emotional sentencing hearing before Judge J. Hobart Darbyshire. “The crime is of such magnitude it needs to serve as an example to others,” Darbyshire said after noting the recent high rate of foreclosures nationwide. He also cited the danger the fire posed to the volunteer firefighters who responded.

For more, see Atwoods get up to 10 years in case.

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