Wine arson suspect pleads not guilty

A Californian man who admitted destroying US$250 million worth of wine in an arson attack, has withdrawn his guilty plea.

A Californian man who admitted destroying US$250 million worth of wine in an arson attack, has withdrawn his guilty plea.

In the latest chapter of the ongoing saga, Mark Anderson, has changed his guilty plea to not guilty.

Anderson was initally arrested in March 2007 and later pleaded guilty to 19 charges including arson and tax evasion, following a blaze at a Vallejo wine storage warehouse in 2005. He has now retracted his plea.

If Anderson fails to win his appeal, he faces up to 280 years in prison instead of the 15 years his attorney originally negotiated under the guilty plea.

Anderson’s new attorney, Jan Karowsky told the San Francisco Chronicle, the accused wanted ‘his day in court’ adding ‘a lot of people make unwise choices in courts of law, but they have a right to do it.’

Written by Tessa Ditner