Fort Hall man gets nearly 3 years in prison for arson

A Fort Hall man was sentenced to prison for arson, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Michael Pandoah, 25, to 35 months behind bars followed by three years of supervised release. This is in addition to the 11 months Pandoah already served in the Fort Hall Tribal Jail on the same charge, to which he pleaded guilty Sept. 26.

In May 2010, police and fire crews responded to a house fire near the intersection of Tyhee and Laughren Roads on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. Police received information that the person who had started the fire was still in the residence. Pandoah was found in the basement of the burning house and was carried out by police and fire personnel. In a later interview with police, Pandoah admitted that he lived at the house with others and that he intentionally started the fire after a fight with a girlfriend.

No one was hurt in the blaze. The house was destroyed.