Meridian man gets 30 years for arson, all but 7 suspended
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A Meridian man is going to prison for purposefully setting fire to two houses.
Attorney General Jim Hood, in a news release Thursday, said 52-year-old James Wiggins was sentenced on one count each of first-degree and second-degree arson.
Lauderdale County Circuit Court Judge Lester Williamson on Wednesday sentenced Wiggins to 20 years, with 15 years suspended, on the first count and 10 years, with eight years suspended, on the second count. Hood says the sentences will run concurrently, meaning Wiggins will serve a total of five years. He also was ordered to pay more than $2,800 in fines and court costs.
Wiggins confessed to intentionally setting fires to two homes in Meridian that were owned by his son.
