ST. LOUIS — An Iron County man was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after he admitted to setting a fire in a national forest and pointing a crossbow at a Forest Service officer.
A federal judge in St. Louis sentenced 37-year-old Lucas G. Henson to 12-and-a-half years in prison. He pleaded guilty in March to assaulting a law enforcement officer, arson and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to the indictment, on Oct. 23, 2022, Henson assaulted a law enforcement officer with the U.S. Forest Service and damaged United States property with fire. Charging documents say Henson set three fires across Butler and Wayne counties, which damaged seven to eight acres of National Forest Land, and pointed a crossbow at a Forest Service officer.
The fires burned 7.61 acres of land. Because of how dry the conditions were, it took firefighters hours to put out the fire. Henson was ordered to pay $7,200 for the cost of fighting the fires.
A press release from U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming of the Eastern District of Missouri said Henson was in the forest after crashing a stolen truck while fleeing from the truck's owner. He is facing multiple charges in circuit court, including first-degree robbery, stealing a motor vehicle and resisting arrest.
He is due in New Madrid County Circuit Court on July 11.
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