7 Years Prison for Man Convicted of Utah Arsons

An animal rights activist who pleaded guilty to federal arson charges in connection with two Utah fires has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Walter Edmund Bond was sentenced to 87 months, probation and $10,000 restitution in Salt Lake City’s U.S. District Court on Thursday.

Judge Ted Stewart ordered the sentence be served consecutive to a five-year term Bond is already serving in Colorado on another arson conviction.

The 35-year-old pleaded guilty in July to two counts of arson for fires at the Tandy Leather Factory in Salt Lake City and the Tiburon Fine Dining Restaurant in Sandy in 2010.

He was arrested in July 2010 after someone tipped authorities to a web posting in which Bond claimed responsibility for the fires.