ALFRED — A 24-year-old Springvale man is due to spend the next nine years in prison for setting a fire that consumed a four-unit apartment building in his neighborhood, sending 14 tenants into the bitter cold in January 2009.

York County Superior Court Justice Paul Fritzsche Thursday sentenced Raymond R. Fortier to 18 years, with all but nine years suspended, and six years probation, the sentence recommended in a plea agreement worked out between the prosecutor and defense counsel.

Fortier pled guilty to arson, a Class A felony, earlier this month.

He set the fire at 20 Mill St. in Springvale and walked away, Justice Fritzsche pointed out. He later confessed to the crime.

Tenants who had lived in the building at 20 Mill St. said nine years isn’t  enough.

“You wake up and there’s flames outside your window. Eight or nine years is not fair,” tenant Rhonda Meggison told the judge. Meggison said she walked by her former home when it was being demolished after the fire.

“You’re watching someone scoop up your life and throw it in the trash,” she said.

According to Assistant District Attorney Thad West, Fortier had an ongoing disagreement with a tenant who lived in the building.

“This was a very serious offense, done for revenge,” West told the court. “It is one of the more serious crimes we’ve dealt with.”

West said nine years represents a serious sentence for a serious act.

After the fire, which broke out at about 4 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2009, Fortier left town. He was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Panama City, Fla. that March and returned to Maine. His attorney, Amy Fairfield, said his prior criminal history includes theft, operating without a license and assault.

Tenants escaped with just the clothes on their backs and lost all their belongings. None had rental insurance, although the building, owned by George Sleeper, was insured.

Fortier apologized for his actions.

“I know what I did was a terrible thing,” said Fortier as he addressed the judge, and then turned to about a dozen victims sitting in the courtroom. “I thank God every day no one was hurt. It has eaten me up ever since.”

Fortier said he was “tripping,” when he set the fire and said he had snorted prescription pills with his mother. He also said he was drinking alcohol.

“I was definitely not in my right state of mind,” he said, adding he wasn’t using his substance abuse to excuse his behavior. “I’m terribly sorry for everything.”

His mother, Janice Fortier, has also been charged with arson in connection with the 20 Mill St. fire, and another the previous summer at the former Mill Street Market. Her case has not yet been scheduled for trial.

In asking for the judge to approve the plea agreement, defense counsel Fairfield said Fortier would be a father in six months time and  that he has shown remorse for his actions.

“There is a lot of evidence that points to this being a substance abuse problem,” she said.

Fortier dropped out of school when he was a senior, he told the judge and is currently unemployed.

One of the victims who spoke asked why anyone would set a fire and walk away, endangering 14 lives.

It was a statement Fritzsche noted.

“Even after he starts the fire he leaves the people to their fate,” the justice said.

But Fritzsche also saw another side to Fortier, who apparently confessed his crime to several people.

“He’s not one of those hardened evil guys who wouldn’t talk to the police or friends,” said Fritzsche. “We have a fairly complex person here. He’s done bad things but afterwards, you see signs of hope.”

West had asked for $95,000 in restitution, but Fritzsche, noting Fortier’s prior work history and child support obligations, reduced that amount to a total of $6,000, to be paid at a rate of $1,000 annually.

When he is released, Fortier is not to possess or consume alcohol or other substances, is to undergo substance abuse counseling, and won’t be allowed to possess lighters, matches or other incendiary devices. He is allowed no contact with the victims.

Angel Cabana said her 6-year-old still wakes up with night terrors.

“Life will never be the same,” she told the judge.

Barbara Gagne said her 11-year-old daughter still refuses to sleep in her bedroom.

“I’ll never forget it, and I’ll never forgive him,” she said.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.