AL man pleads guilty in case related to fires set at Walmart stores in Mobile, Gulfport

An Alabama man has pleaded guilty in relation to a string of 2021 Walmart fires that took place in Mobile and on the Mississippi Coast, according to WKRG News 5.

Quinton Olson, of Gulf Shores, pled guilty to conspiracy of malicious destruction of real and personal property used in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce, WKRG reported, citing court documents.

Olson was arrested in February of 2022 along with Jeffrey Sikes, Sean Bottorff, Michael Bottorff and Alexander Olson and was charged with various crimes relating to the fires.

The plea agreement comes with a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, supervised release for three years, special assessment of $100 and restitution to any victim that incurred a loss as a result of the crime.

He will be sentenced in March 2023, WKRG reports.

The fires occurred over a several week span in mid 2021, the first of which was set at a Walmart in Mobile, Alabama on May 27, 2021, according to the initial indictment

The second fire was set on May, 2021, in a separate Mobile based Walmart.

The third fire took place at a Gulfport Walmart store on June 4, 2021.

The fires were set by drenching clothing racks with lighter fluid, according to an affidavit.

The fires were accompanied with a manifesto that was released to news outlets titled “Declaration of War and Demands for the People.”

The manifesto references the fires and “makes demands of Walmart related to the company’s interstate and foreign commerce business practices” and threatened more fires if demands weren’t met, according to the indictment.

The plea deal comes as prosecutors prepare for what could be a complex trials for the other defendants.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Bodnar and Kasee Heisterhagen say they expect the trial to last two weeks because of the complexity of the evidence and because additional charges could be brought, according to Al.com

This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 3:44 PM.