"We could have so easily been here on four counts of homicide. He did do it at 4 a.m. when people were sleeping." -- Amanda Miller, assistant Tuscarawas County prosecutor
NEW PHILADELPHIA A judge has sentenced a 20-year-old man to five years in prison for setting fire to a home occupied by four people in Mineral City.
Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos also ordered Joshua A. Dupler to serve three years of probation after his release from prison. He is required to register his address for 25 years with the sheriff in the county where he lives. He entered guilty pleas Monday to two counts of aggravated arson, aggravated burglary and burglary.
Amanda Miller, assistant county prosecutor, said the outcome could have been far worse had one of occupants not awakened at 4 a.m. to let her dog outside. She called for help after seeing flames in the apartment adjacent to her own.
"We could have so easily been here on four counts of homicide," she said. "He did do it at 4 a.m. when people were sleeping."
The crime occurred Nov. 7 in a house that had been divided into three apartments in the 8400 block of S. High Street in Mineral City, less than 500 feet from the fire station.
Miller said Dupler set fire to the curtains in a vacant downstairs apartment after trying unsuccessfully to start a fire by putting oil on the floor. The fire did not spread beyond the downstairs apartment. The landlord did not seek restitution. No dollar value for the loss was given in his victim impact statement. No victim statements were obtained from the mother and child who were in the second-story apartment.
Miller said the crime arose from Dupler's anger at the tenants in the downstairs apartment.
Defense attorney George Urban said his client believed he had a "handshake agreement" with the tenants that allowed him to stay there.
"He didn't have a beef with the other people ... but he certainly didn't consider their safety," Miller said.
Urban said he believed his client had learned from the situation, and will continue to learn more in prison.
When given the chance to speak, Dupler said he hoped to get treatment for his drug and alcohol addictions, something he had never received after previous convictions.
Thomakos told him he might be able to reduce his prison time by participating in education and other programs while incarcerated.
"The truth of the matter is you don't need to be court-ordered to get treatment," she said, adding that he could have sought help at the Health Department voluntarily at any time.
Miller said Dupler had a high risk of committing other crimes because he had not responded to past punishments and had not been rehabilitated in his past interactions with the criminal justice system. She recounted a criminal history that started with theft at age 10. She said he had a juvenile record and misdemeanor convictions as an adult, although the charges related to the arson are his first felonies. He first went on probation in 2008.
Dupler received credit for time served in the Tuscarawas County jail since his Nov. 7 arrest. Court records list the jail as his address.
Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.
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