DENVER—A former forestry worker who admitted starting the worst wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history was released from prison on Monday after a six-year term, but she still faces up to $42 million in restoration payments and 15 years of probation.
Terry Lynn Barton, 44, pleaded guilty to state and federal arson charges for the 2002 Hayman Fire, which blackened 138,000 acres, destroyed 133 homes and forced more than 8,000 people to evacuate.
Barton was released from a prison in Fort Worth, Texas, said Juan Segovia, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
“Terry Barton has served her time, but like other serious crimes the impact of the Hayman fire lives on,” U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a written release.
She was a fire spotter for the U.S. Forest Service at the time of the blaze and originally claimed she had found an illegal campfire and tried to extinguish it. She later admitted setting the fire by burning a letter from her estranged husband.
Barton now faces 15 years of state probation and four years of federal probation.
She was ordered to pay $14.7 million in restitution to the federal government and state prosecutors are seeking an additional $27.5 million in restitution. A judge has not yet ruled on the state request.
State and federal prosecutors say it will be up to Barton’s probation officers to arrange payments on the restitution debt.
Federal probation officers are waiting to see how the state restitution case is resolved before deciding specifics on how Barton will pay, said Rosa Miraflor, deputy chief of the federal probation office in Denver.
Barton had already checked in with federal officials by phone on Monday, Miraflor said. Her next step will be meeting with a federal probation officer in person, Miraflor said.
Jack Ruszczyk, chief probation officer for El Paso and Teller counties, said he believes Barton plans to live with friends in Colorado Springs. He said she has seven days to check in with his office but had not done so yet.
Barton’s public defender didn’t immediately return a call.
Barton’s state sentence also includes 1,500 hours of community service, equal to about 8 1/2 months of 40-hour work weeks.
A Colorado district judge originally sentenced Barton to a 12-year term on the state arson charge, double the normal sentence, citing aggravating factors.
Barton’s attorneys appealed, arguing the judge shouldn’t have handed down the sentence because he lived near the fire and had voluntarily evacuated his house.
A state appeals court agreed and overturned the sentence. The appeals court also said only a jury had the authority to find aggravating factors.
A new judge who resentenced Barton on the state charge in March ordered only probation and community service. He said it would be pointless to impose a 6-year prison term, because under her original plea agreement, it would be served concurrently with her federal time, which she had nearly completed.
