Poplar Bluff man pleads guilty to setting 2022 fires

A Poplar Bluff man pleaded guilty Tuesday, Feb. 27, to a felony charge of setting fires on federal and private land.

A release from Sayler Fleming, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, says Adam D. Gambling, 44, set fires that burned 220 acres of U.S. Forest Service and private land Nov. 8, 2022. The fires were near Beaver Lake in Mark Twain National forest in Butler County.

U.S. Forest Service personnel investigated the fires. During a voluntary interview at his home, according to the release, Gambling admitted setting the fires.

Sentencing is set for Friday, May 24. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Gambling has agreed to pay restitution of $66,000.

Christopher Shelton, assistant U.S. attorney, is prosecuting the case in federal court in Cape Girardeau