ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Bellaire resident Robert Linde was ordered to spend 10-14 years in prison Monday for setting a fire in his apartment that caused extensive damage but did not result in any injuries.

Following the July 25 incident, Linde was arrested and charged with first-degree felony aggravated arson causing substantial risk of physical harm to a person, second-degree felony aggravated arson involving an occupied structure, misdemeanor aggravated menacing and misdemeanor domestic violence. Following a two-day jury trial in Belmont Common Pleas Court, Linde was convicted on all counts except for the domestic violence charge.

According to Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan, the situation came to the attention of law enforcement when a 911 call was received reporting smoke at 3624 Noble St., Bellaire. A neighbor apparently spotted smoke coming from the house that had been partitioned to create three apartments.

The neighbor reportedly responded and attempted to get people out of the structure.

Flanagan said Linde and his girlfriend had been arguing for most of that day and, in the evening, Linde made threats toward her. Then, while they were together in the bedroom, Linde lit a blanket on fire and the flames quickly engulfed most of their room, according to Flanagan.

The girlfriend then ran to the other apartments in the building to alert people while the neighbor who saw smoke ran into the house and up the stairs to Linde’s apartment and yelled for him.

Flanagan said Linde came out of the apartment, went down the stairs, got into his truck and left the scene. He was not spotted again until his arrest in the early evening of July 26.

When the case went to trial, Flanagan said, Linde’s girlfriend, the primary victim, was reluctant to testify and did not want to pursue charges. For his office, however, Flanagan said the crime was “far too serious not to pursue despite what the victim requested” because of the potential “harm posed to other tenants in the building.”

On Monday, Judge John Vavra cited Linde’s extensive criminal history before handing down his sentence. He said Linde has been convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated eight times, along with entering without breaking, battery on a peace officer, three convictions for theft, four convictions for driving under suspicion, carrying dangerous weapons and criminal damaging.

“You have been committing crimes in this area for 36 years, according to your record,” Vavra told Linde. “You have not responded favorably to prior sanctions. …

“In this case … in further proof of that anti-societal conduct, you very cavalierly set fire to your residence. It was a residence in a multi-apartment building. Your female friend was with you, and the other occupants of the house — she went door-to-door trying to warn them that you had started that fire so that they could escape. Fortunately, there were no physical, actual physical injuries to a person …”

Vavra said Linde did cause harm to the residence as well as psychological harm to his victim.

He said Linde has displayed a pattern of alcohol abuse that began at age 14, which the judge believes is directly related to Linde’s conduct in this case. He added that Linde has shown no remorse for his actions.

Although the arson charges are Linde’s first felony offenses, Vavra said his past record and evaluations that were done prior to sentencing indicate that recidivism is likely in Linde’s case. Therefore, he chose to impose the most severe sentence allowed under the law in order to protect the public from further actions by Linde.

While the defense sought to have the arson charges merged for a reduced overall sentence, Vavra ruled that case law and the specifics of this case indicted they should not be merged.

He explained to Linde that he would serve at least 10 years in prison with the six-month jail sentence for the misdemeanor menacing charge to run concurrent with his felony sentences. He also told Linde that he could potentially have his sentence reduced by 5-15% for good behavior in prison; conversely, prison officials could opt to hold him for up to 14 years if he displays bad behavior while incarcerated.

Liinde received credit for 278 days served in the Belmont County Jail and, upon his release, will be required to register as an arson offender for the remainder of his life.