A Chico man is facing a possible sentence of 25 years to life in an arson case involving one of the largest wildfires in state history, but his defense attorney argued that intent should factor into any arson conviction.

44-year-old Ronnie Dean Stout II, who was the sole suspect in causing the initial flames of the Park Fire in July 2024, was convicted Friday following a three-day trial in Butte County. (SFist noted the conviction in brief in Day Around the Bay.) As the Chico Enterprise-Record reports, Stout could face a sentence of up to 25 years to life in prison under California's "three strikes" law, because he has previous serious felony convictions for child molestation and for armed robbery.

The Park Fire began on July 24, 2024 after Stout was seen pushing a disabled vehicle, a 2007 Toyota Yaris, into a gully known as the "Alligator Hole" in Chico's Bidwell Park. After his arrest, authorities said that Stout was drunk at the time and driving recklessly around the park, and after the car went off the road and became stuck on some rocks, Stout was revving the engine, going forward and in reverse, which sparked a small fire underneath it. In frustration, Stout then pushed the car off a 60-foot embankment into the ravine.

According to prosecutors, when an arson investigator contacted Stout based on a witness ID-ing him, he said over the phone, "What did I do wrong, bro?"

When Stout was arrested, about 12 hours after the fire began, his blood-alcohol level was still above the legal limit for driving, according to investigators.

The Park Fire would go on to become the fourth largest in California state history, burning nearly 430,000 acres across Butte and Tehama counties, and destroying over 700 structures.

As the Enterprise-Record reports, prosecutors pointed to Stout's intent only in pushing the car into the ravine, but did not suggest that he intended to spark a wildfire. His defense attorney, Nicole Diamond, said she believed the evidence did not support an arson conviction, because of the lack of intent, with the statute requiring "willful or malicious intent."

"As I emphasized during the closing argument, while the fire was undeniably a tragedy for the community, the evidence presented at trial did not warrant a conviction" for arson, Diamond tells the New York Times.

While one witness said they saw Stout physically push the car off the embankment, Diamond also argued that suspension shifts or vehicle movement could have caused it to slip down the slope.

Prosecutors further presented text-message evidence that Stout was in the middle of a heated argument with his fiancee, who is now his wife, in the moments before the fire began. Just minutes earlier, the messages showed, the girlfriend had texted that their relationship was over and she was returning her dress and her ring.

Marc Noel, the supervising district attorney of the Butte County District Attorney's Office, also tells KRCR that Stout was defiant and remorseless throughout the early investigation.

"[He] just kept repeating the same stuff over and over and over again," Noel said. "Denying any responsibility. One of the other things, he was very, very hung up on, that he kept coming back to, was that he didn't have insurance on the car. While houses in Cohasset were burning, while people were losing everything that they had, while thousands of people were being evacuated, Mr. Stout was complaining that he lost his $4,000 car. He repeatedly came back to that, so that kind of tells you his mindset."

Stout will be sentenced at a hearing in October. The Butte County Sheriff's Office is reportedly actively gathering victim-impact statements from the community and those who lost homes in the fire.

Previously: Park Fire Arson Suspect Charged, Investigators Say He Was Drunk at Time of Fire's Start

Top image: Photo via Cal Fire