Man pleads guilty to starting small fire in Palm Springs, sentenced to 2 years
A 33-year-old homeless man pleaded guilty today to starting a small brush fire in Palm Springs earlier this year and was immediately sentenced to two years in state prison.
Anthony Cordero pleaded guilty at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one felony count of arson to a non-dwelling, according to court records.
Officers responded at around 5:40 p.m. April 10 to the Prescott Preserve, near the 1000 block of South El Cielo Road, to a report of an active fire, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.
"When officers arrived at the scene, they were provided a description of a subject in the area who allegedly may have started the fire,'' police said in a statement. "The Palm Springs Fire Department responded to the scene, and they were able to extinguish a small, isolated brush fire."
Cordero, who matched the description provided by a witness, was subsequently found and arrested in the area, according to police.
According to court records, Cordero has one prior felony conviction of burglary from July 2022, for which he was serving two years of formal probation.
