CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – A Poplar Bluff, Missouri, man appeared in federal court on Tuesday and admitted setting a series of fires that burned 220 acres of private land and federally protected U.S. Forest Service land in 2022.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Adam Gambling, 44, set fires on Nov. 8, 2022, near Beaver Lake and Mark Twain National Forest in Butler County.
Those fires burned 125.38 acres of national forest and 95.3 acres of privately owned land.
Investigators with the U.S. Forest Service identified Gambling as their chief suspect. Gambling met with investigators at his home and admitted to setting the fires.
Gambling pleaded guilty to one count of arson on public land. He’ll be sentenced on May 24. He faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Gambling already agreed to pay more than $66,000 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service.
