Man gets 7 years for torching Cape office complex

The man who admitted to torching an office complex on Mount Auburn Road in November received the maximum sentence for the arson Tuesday.

Mark K. Carleton, 26, destroyed the office complex at 1707 N. Mount Auburn Road on Nov. 21 when he set fire to paper and laid it on the floor in the building. He took an open plea to a second-degree arson charge last month.

On Tuesday, Judge Benjamin Lewis gave Carleton the maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

Koester did not respond to a message left at her office Tuesday afternoon. Carleton's public defender, Mary Patricia Tucka, could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Carleton worked for RGIS Inventory Services, which occupied two of the building's offices. He was on the scene when fire crews arrived and offered to take them in the building to show them where the fire was, according to the probable-cause statement. He was carrying a respirator mask and told an emergency service responder and a police officer at the scene that he set the fire because he was upset with a recent pay cut.

Carleton was hospitalized with smoke inhalation and was released into the custody of the Cape Girardeau Police Department a few days after the fire.

At his first court appearance, Carleton was found to be indigent and in need of a public defender, according to court documents.

The office complex was condemned Nov. 22; its seven tenants were forced to relocate.

J and J Hyla, an air purification company, secured an office at 625 E. Main St. in Jackson shortly after the fire, while Consolidated Insurance Agency moved to a temporary location at 3262 Lexington Ave. and will stay there for up to eight months.

American Homecare Management has moved to 2749 Thomas St., while Substance Abuse Traffic Offenders' Program, a government program that is required for someone to get a driver's license reinstated after a driving-while-intoxicated conviction, is still assessing what it wants to do.

In December, Personal Solutions owner Mati Stone said the company would move into a new office Jan. 3, but did not say where that office would be. Stone could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The building's owner, Storey Management, is still deciding what to do with the complex. Building manager Hollie Overstreet said the company has received demolition bids but is still waiting on reconstruction bids before making a decision.

The arson conviction adds to Carleton's already lengthy criminal record.

In March 2005, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stealing and spent 30 days behind bars. In August 2005, he spent 30 days in jail for failing to appear in court, and in 2007, he received three years in prison for forgery, according to online court records.

Before his Cape Girardeau arrests, Carleton pleaded guilty to burglary in Alexander County, Ill., and was sentenced to seven months in 2003. In 2006, he pleaded guilty in Alexander County to burglary, theft and property damage charges.

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

1707 N. Mount Auburn Road, Cape Girardeau, MO