Repayments coming in Heber City motel fire

HEBER CITY — The insurance and mortgage companies that lost money when a motel here burned down are set to be paid back. But the community that raised money to come to the aid of the owner — who was later convicted of starting the fire — will not.

Mazhar Tabesh, 40, a Muslim who in February was found guilty of first-degree felony aggravated arson for the July 2002 blaze that caused $100,000 to his Alpine Lodge at 100 North and Main, maintains he is the innocent victim of a hate crime. His attorney, Ron Yengich, said he plans to appeal the jury's verdict.

In the meantime, however, Yengich told 4th District Judge Donald J. Eyre on Wednesday that he and Tabesh "accept this verdict" and respect the justice system. He said Tabesh's insistence that he is innocent is not meant as "thumbing his nose" at the system.

Tabesh was sentenced to a year in jail and probation. He could have faced five years to life in prison, but a presentencing report from the Adult Probation and Parole board recommended less incarceration because of Tabesh's previous lack of a criminal record. Prosecutor Tom Low agreed that a five-years-to-life prison sentence was probably extreme in Tabesh's case. But he disagreed with Yengich, who felt no incarceration was needed.

In the end, Eyre sentenced Tabesh to three years under AP&P supervision. A year of that will be spent at the Wasatch County Jail, though he may be eligible for work release after 90 days.

"Clearly you've lived an exemplary life," Eyre told Tabesh. "I've observed how well you've treated your in-laws, your wife, your mother and father."

Eyre also ordered Tabesh to pay $135,444 in restitution, which will go to the insurance company and mortgage company involved with the motel. Low briefly raised the notion in court Wednesday afternoon that restitution might involve somehow repaying the Heber community, which rallied to Tabesh's aid after the post-Sept. 11 fire, sending flowers, hosting a benefit concert and opening a bank account for donations. Residents raised nearly $1,400.

Yengich said he had not had much time before the sentencing to review the restitution recommendation and told the judge he may call for a restitution hearing later to revisit the issue of what Tabesh owes.

Overall, however, he said the judge showed even-handedness in issuing the sentence, as aggravated arson is a serious crime and there was a lot of anger within a community that felt its sympathies had been betrayed.

During his trial, Tabesh testified that a man, about 25 to 30 years old, had rented the room the day of the fire.

But prosecutors said Tabesh hoped to obtain insurance money by "jumping on the Sept. 11 bandwagon."

At Wednesday's sentencing, Low played a videotape of a local television news report the day after the fire. At the time, investigators were looking at Tabesh as a victim, and in his interview with the television station, Tabesh said the fire illustrated a degree of prejudice that existed in Heber.

"When this small community heard this broadcast . . . the claim that there are still stupid and ignorant people here, they took that personally," Low said in portraying Heber residents as the victim in this crime. "They gave money to the person who actually started the fire."

Tabesh is a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com