Dolph pleads guilty in 2013 chicken farm fire

 VILLISCA — After a nearly year-long investigation, a Villisca man avoided a jail sentence by pleading guilty to reduced charges following a 2013 fire at a large chicken farm. 

Carlton Dolph, 32, pleaded guilty to reckless use of fire, a serious misdemeanor, April 14 at the Montgomery County Courthouse. He received a suspended 30-day jail sentence, one year of informal probation and was ordered to pay a $315 fine and restitution. 

Dolph originally was charged with two felony counts of arson in the second degree and threat of terrorism. He had been accused of setting two fires at Sunbest Papetti Farms outside of Villisca in 2013. 

The first fire, Feb. 20, involved a cardboard box containing a new heater and led to minor damages. 

State Fire Marshal Special Agent John Ticer said his office did not get involved with the matter until the second fire, five  days later, occurred in the same area, causing serious damage to a portion of a chicken laying barn.

On March 10, the farm received a letter from someone claiming responsibility for the incidents and threatening additional fires. 

According to court records, the letter was found in an area of the farm facility that is kept locked and accessible by employees only.

A statement from a co-worker indicated Dolph alluded to writing the letter along with committing acts of vandalism at the facility and inappropriate behavior toward employees. 

While employed at the time of the fires, Dolph was no longer working at the farm following the discovery of the March 10 letter. 

This is not Dolph’s first fire-related crime.

In 1999, he was found guilty of second degree arson. He’s been arrested for multiple other misdemeanors throughout the last several years, including theft, disorderly conduct and assault.