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The fourth person charged in connection to starting an Albert Lea garage on fire in October 2023 was sentenced Friday to three years and five months in prison.

Zachary Michael Hamilton, 18, pleaded guilty in November to one count of first-degree aid and abet arson using an Alford plea. With this type of plea, a defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to prove guilt.

Hamilton has already served 470 days in the Freeborn County jail since his arrest and will receive credit for those days served.

He will be required to serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison with the remainder on supervised release.

According to court documents, Hamilton was with a group of three others the evening of Oct. 6, 2023, when he reportedly talked about getting revenge on a person and setting his garage on fire.

Hamilton, who was a juvenile at the time of the incident but who was charged as an adult, reportedly lit the fire with co-defendant Kolten Lee Wright at 816 Garfield Ave., while co-defendant Haily Merrill was the lookout. A fourth person, Kaden James Ashenfelter, was also charged with driving the others to pick up lighter fluid from Wright’s house before driving to the Garfield house.

According to court documents, Wright told police he and Hamilton first tried to get inside the house but couldn’t get in.

Hamilton allegedly took the lighter fluid from Wright and doused a cushion with the fluid, before Wright allegedly doused some blankets. Wright then reportedly got his lighter out and lit a brown paper bag and put it down on the lighter fluid, and it caught fire. Wright said Hamilton then reportedly ran out of the garage before he lit the fire.

Merrill last February was sentenced to four months in jail and five years of probation after pleading guilty to second-degree arson; Ashenfelter in November was sentenced to five years of probation, 90 days in jail and 200 hours of community service. Wright was sentenced to four years in prison.