Mason City man sentenced to 25 years after pleading guilty to arson, drug charges
Zachary Bruce Sankey (Credit: Cerro Gordo County Jail)
(ABC 6 News) – A Mason City man was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to arson and drug charges.
Zachary Bruce Sankey, 39, was arrested on Feb. 28 after Mason City Police and Fire Departments responded to five different fire calls within a two-hour span across the city.
The fire calls occurred at the following locations.
- 5:22 a.m. – 324 S Kentucky Avenue – garage fire
- 5:30 a.m. – Birch Drive / N Rhode Island Avenue – brush fire
- 6:25 a.m. – Arona Home Essentials, 3701 4th Street SW – vehicle fire
- 6:45 a.m. – Brothers Ace Hardware, 440 S Illinois Avenue – structure fire
- 7:15 a.m. – Gracious Estates, 777 S Eisenhower Avenue – structure fire
RELATED: Mason City man faces charges after allegedly setting multiple fires
Sankey was taken into custody by law enforcement officers at 7:41 a.m. on Feb. 28.
As part of a plea deal, Sankey pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree arson for the Brothers Ace Hardware fire, three counts of second-degree arson in the fires at Gracious Estates, Arona Home Essentials, and the garage on Kentucky Ave., and a separate charge of possession of methamphetamine — third offense.
Each of the arson charges carries a 10-year prison term with 3 of the arson charges — Arona Home Essentials, Gracious Estates and garage on Kentucky Ave. — being served at the same time, but consecutively to the arson charge at Brothers Ace Hardware.
Sankey also received a 5-year sentence on the methamphetamine charge which will be served consecutively after the other charges.