Man behind 2021 Walmart fires along Gulf Coast gets 18 years

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama federal judge has sentenced the man who admits being the leader of a scheme to set fires to Walmart stores along the Gulf Coast to 18 years in prison — double the recommended sentence.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutors had recommended a nine-year sentence for Jeffery Sikes, which was the high end of the sentencing guideline range. But U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer said Tuesday he believed those guidelines did not capture the full extent of the defendant's criminal conduct, WALA-TV reported.

"This guideline, as applied, in my opinion, is woefully inadequate for the crime," the judge said.

In addition, Moorer ordered Sikes and his co-conspirators to pay nearly $7.3 million to Walmart in compensation for the damage incurred in the fires at stores in Alabama and Mississippi. After his prison term is completed, Sikes will be on probation for three years.

Others involved in the fires will be sentenced later.

Sikes pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to maliciously destroy by fire. He admitted to directing the creation of a document called the "Declaration of War and Demands for the People." Several local media organizations received the manifesto, which outlined grievances against Walmart related to pay, benefits and working conditions and threatened continued arsons if the demands were not met.

Sikes told the judge that he deserves whatever punishment he gets, but he urged Moorer to spare his co-defendants.

"These guys had nothing to do with it," he said. "Quite honestly, they fought me on it. I was the mastermind. I was the leader. I take full responsibility."

Moorer said he was glad to hear Sikes say the things that he did.

"But I don't really give you credit for that, inasmuch, as what you just said is just the truth," he said.

The judge recited a long list of factors leading to his conclusion that this case was outside the "heartland" of the guidelines. He noted that there was not just one fire, but four. Moorer also said the defendant's text messages demonstrate a "callous disregard for what you did at the time you did it."

Furthermore, the judge said the guidelines do not adequately capture the defendant's political motivation, his participation in shoplifting schemes to raise money or his attempt to "intimidate the media" into publishing his manifesto.

Sikes is described as a federal fugitive who disappeared from Kearney, Nebraska, before a 2018 sentencing hearing for wire fraud. He was using the alias Kenneth Allen while living in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The indictment said Sean Bottorff, who is Sikes' brother-in-law, also disappeared from Kearney at the same time, along with his wife and an unrelated adult female who pleaded last year to a conspiracy charge.

Defense attorney Tom Walsh said outside the courthouse that despite the higher sentence, there are still issues that can be raised on appeal.

"It's certainly disappointing," he said of the judge's decision.

At some point, Sikes will be returned to Nebraska to face sentencing for the fraud conviction that prompted him to flee in 2018. Walsh said his client most likely will have to serve that sentence after the one handed down in Mobile.