A Jefferson City man has pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree arson in connection with a November 2011 fire at the former Mulberry Street Apartments.
Don Salcedo, 48, was placed on five years of supervised probation as part of negotiated plea with prosecutors during a Tuesday hearing before Cole County Judge Dan Green.
Another arson charge against Salcedo was dismissed.
The case had been dismissed in 2013 but was later refiled.
Salcedo used a lighter to ignite an item on the first floor of the apartment building at 615 Mulberry St., according to court documents.
Salcedo was observed on the in-house surveillance recording system inside the apartment building on three separate occasions within three hours of the arson, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement. Salcedo was seen on all three floors of the building, at one point using a lighter to ignite an item, and walking out of the building.
He is shown on the video returning and walking toward the third floor, then leaving just before the fire breaks out.
The fire caused an estimated $500,000 in damage, left 20 people needing shelter, sent three people to local hospitals to be treated for smoke inhalation, and required firefighters to rescue a number of tenants from their apartments as they battled the blaze.