Towanda man sentenced to five years in prison following 2023 arson arrest

TOWANDA, Pa. ( WETM ) — A Towanda man could see up to five years in prison after being sentenced in July on charges relating to an arson arrest from August 2023.

According to information from the Bradford County District Attorney’s Office, 61-year-old Robert Wayne Devine was sentenced to a minimum of 21 months to five years in a Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution for the offense of arson, a second-degree felony.

Devine was convicted of the charge back in May where officials said he was responsible for setting a fire in Towanda too close to other houses.

“The fire was close to Devine’s residence and witnesses testified it heated up the siding and cracked a window, and put that house, and therefore the neighbors’ houses, in jeopardy,” said Bradford County District Attorney, Richard Wilson.

Wilson spoke on Devine’s recklessness that took place that day, even saying how Devine was cited before for starting a fire in the same location.

“Devine’s defiance was troubling,” Wilson said, “because he was previously cited for burning in that same location, so he knew it was not allowed,” he said. “Despite that, he not only started this fire, but he testified at the trial that when police arrived, rather than put the fire out or speak with them, he went back into the house to find more items to burn,” Wilson said.

The documents state the sentencing is not only based on the events from that day in August 2023 but also Devine’s prior criminal activity.

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