Final Defendant In Hitching Post Fire Will Not Get Prison

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The last defendant charged in a 2010 fire set in a Wyoming hotel will not serve prison time.

Court documents say a judge found Falgun Dharia should be sentenced to probation, given his lack of criminal history and an order to pay more than $11.3 million in restitution for other crimes.

Dharia pleaded guilty in 2015 to conspiring to commit insurance and wire fraud in connection with the September 2010 fire at the Hitching Post Inn in Cheyenne.

Court documents say when Dharia and his partner, Ajay Jariwala, purchased the hotel, Jariwala took out a $13.6 million insurance policy on the building.

Investigators found both hired a person to destroy the property.

Jariwala was sentenced in 2013 to six years for conspiracy to commit arson.

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