August 16, 2024 3:40 a.m.

A Riddle man was convicted of first-degree arson in Douglas County Circuit Court on Thursday, for his role in a 2023 fire.

47-year-old William James Holsten was sentenced to 39 months in jail with 36 months of post-prison supervision. Holsten pleaded no contest to the first-degree arson charge and was found guilty of intentionally damaging property by starting a fire with more than $50,000 in damages.

According to court documents obtained by The News Review, Holsten played a role in a truck fire in May of 2023 and a house fire in June of that year in the 600 block of East Fifth Street in Riddle. That property had been foreclosed on and the occupants evicted prior to the fire, according to a fire official at that time.

Holsten was arrested on June 5th of this year after a witness came forward.