Salt Lake City animal-rights activist sentenced in sheepskin-store fire

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DENVER — An animal-rights activist from Salt Lake City who was convicted of setting fire to a Denver-area store that sells products made from sheepskin has been sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution.

Walter Edmund Bond was defiant during Friday’s sentencing hearing in Denver. He told Judge Christine Arguello that he wouldn’t pay one dollar in restitution and defended his actions.

Arguello warned him that if he didn’t pay for the damage to the Sheepskin Factory, he would face even more time behind bars.

The 34-year-old Bond pleaded guilty in November to setting the fire.

He also faces federal charges in Utah for fires at the Salt Lake City Tandy Leather Factory Store and the Tiburon Fine Dining restaurant in Sandy.

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-- Associated Press