Trace Elementary Arsonist Gets 8 Years

Second defendant in the case will be in court next month.

One of two men convicted in burning down part of Trace Elementary School in San Jose in 2010 was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday.

Lazarus Reavallez, 18, and  Kliefert Guiang, 18, confessed to burning down the school on July 5, 2010 and causing more than $10-million in damage.

The fire destroyed the core of the school along with its library and several classrooms.

The two were 16 years old at the time the arson was carried out. Both confessed to their involvement in the fire in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Reavallez was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison, and told to pay back $14,932, 980 to the school. Guiang is scheduled to return to court on June 19.

Both were charged as adults for aggravated arson, a felony which carries a term of 10 years to life. 

But under the deal, Reavallez pleaded to a reduced felony charge, arson of a structure, with an enhancement which adds four years for causing damage in excess of $3.5 million.

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